Russia - EU open war on energy, Moscow: "Stop oil to hostile countries"

Putin's Russia continues with the energy war and threatens to stop oil supplies "To hostile countries", warning that gas storage will not be enough for the EU to survive the winter.

The Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander novak he has threatened that he will suspend supplies of black gold to so-called "hostile countries" if they impose "restrictions". The warning is aimed at the G7 finance ministers who are preparing to resume discussions on the imposition of a limit on the price of Russian crude oil. On the gas front, the Kremlin then repeated that EU sanctions prevent Gazprom from supplying gas to Europe. The same Gazprom he reported that even if the large European countries were to be able to bring their gas stocks "close to the maximum level" allowed by storage, this "would not guarantee that they will survive the autumn-winter season reliably". The rating agency Fitch has a different opinion, according to which Europe "can resist the stop of Russian gas". Although with a "painful" impact, quantified with a drop in GDP between 1,5 and 2 points in the Eurozone, which would rise to 3 for Germany and 2,5 for Italy.

The tightening of Moscow's position following the decision of the EU to put a ceiling on the price of energy and to draw up a plan to reduce the demand for electricity.

What is certain is that time is running out and in Brussels we are still at the lines of thought on the subject because each country is still in no particular order. The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, for example, he stated without hesitation that completely renouncing Russian gas "it's not something we would do because I don't think it would be very responsible ”.

But a signal to the markets may have arrived, with spot gas prices stable (today closing at 243 euros and + 1,29%) since Ursula von der Leyen spoke of urgent measures to be taken within a few weeks.

He will announce them on 14 September in Strasbourg, in his State of the Union address. The extraordinary energy council, with the ministers who will meet in Brussels on the 9th, will serve to probe the reactions to the hypotheses in the field. First, that of the ceiling on the price of gas, on which the Commission "the work continues on a technical level ", said the Commission's Deputy Director-General for Energy Mechthild Worsdorfer speaking to the Industry Committee of the European Parliament.

Spain would like to propose to Brussels used in the Iberian Peninsula, with a controlled price only for the gas used to produce electricity, with the effect of making bills lighter. The price cap it can be applied “on imports from Russia”, the idea supported by Italy, “or applied within the EU, on the wholesale or retail market, we are evaluating all the possibilities”, explained Wörsdörfer.

A mention was also made of the idea of ​​implementing "urgent measures on electricity prices to protect critical industries", such as a plan to reduce demand, along the lines of what was approved in July on the 15% cut in electricity consumption. gas. But according to rumors confirmed by several sources, the Commission would have in mind, according to what is written in a 'non paper' circulating in Brussels, to propose a ceiling on the price of electricity produced from sources other than gas to obtain resources with which to amortize the bill costs.

Basically, writes the Ansa, the income linked to the difference between the price cap and the final price would be used for subsidies to consumers who face high bills.

Russia - EU open war on energy, Moscow: "Stop oil to hostile countries"

| EVIDENCE 2, MONDO |