Russia made an ominous warning from its state-backed energy plant Gazprom that could potentially limit gas exports to European countries, stoking fears of potentially limited supplies coming into the winter season.
The situation comes as a pre-summer heatwave hits Western Europe this week, forcing policymakers in the region to scramble to fill underground storage with natural gas supplies. These would be used to provide households with enough fuel to keep the lights on and homes warm before the return of the cold temperatures.
Gas Supplies in Europe
The fears of a severe winter gas shortage are driven by the risk of a full supply disruption to the EU, which receives roughly 40% of its gas via Russian pipelines. The bloc is now trying to rapidly reduce its reliance on Russian hydrocarbons in response to the Kremlin's continued war against Ukraine which is now in its fourth month.
What many are worried about is just how dependable Russian gas flows are to Europe as the conflict continues and as economic sanctions take effect. Moscow has already opted to cut gas supplies to various countries, including Finland, Poland, Bulgaria, Denmark's Orsted, Dutch firms GasTerra, and energy giant Shell for its German contracts, as per CNBC.
Russia's Gazprom most recently opted to further limit supplies via the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that runs from Russia to Germany under the Baltic Sea while also reducing flows to Italy. On Wednesday, the company cited a technical problem for the supply cut, saying that the issue stemmed from the delayed return of equipment serviced by Germany's Siemens Energy in Canada.
Two other countries, Austria and Slovakia, have also reported gas supply reductions from Russia. Furthermore, in fiery comments likely to have sent alarm bells ringing throughout the bloc, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller said on Thursday that Russia will play by its own rules after the firm halved supplies to Germany.
Russia's Influence
According to Politico, the situation comes as Gazprom also cut supplies to France and Italy only days after the two nations' leaders traveled to Kyiv to formally express their support of Ukraine's bid to join the EU. The slowdown of deliveries could derail EU efforts to build up supplies and protect the bloc from Russian energy blackmail.
On Friday, France's gas network operator GRTgaz said that it has not received any Russian gas via Germany since Wednesday. On the other hand, Italy's state energy company Eni said that it would only receive half of its requested shipments on Friday, the third day of a shortfall in deliveries.
Germany also reported a sharp reduction in supply through the undersea Nord Stream pipeline on Wednesday. Authorities from Gazprom said that there were only 67 million cubic meters per day of flows instead of 167 million cubic meters.
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, who was among international leaders that visited Ukraine recently, accused Moscow of using gas supplies for political reasons. On the other hand, Canadian authorities said that they were previously in talks with Germany to resolve issues of lower gas supplies, Reuters reported.
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