Marthanoir
TB Fanatic
On a totally unrelated note I'm thinking of setting up a pitchfork and flaming torch business, I'm looking for financial backers 
ENER Europe Plans "Emergency Intervention" In Power Market As All Hell Breaks Loose
- Thread starter Blacknarwhal
- Start date
Marthanoir
TB Fanatic
meanwhile in Ireland
Risk of electricity blackouts ‘slightly worse’ than last winter 
There is a similar risk of electricity blackouts in Ireland this year as there was last year, an Oireachtas committee has heard, adding that the squeeze on energy supplies across Europe, coupled with low wind, would be its biggest threat.
Committee members were also told that the “unprecedented” spike in electricity and gas prices are much more of a concern to Irish householders than reforming the European electricity market.
Representatives of Eirgrid, a State-owned body responsible for managing Ireland’s power system, said that the risk to Ireland’s energy supplies this winter are similar to last year, but did admit there was a “heightened risk” due to the rest of Europe’s energy supplies being “tight”.
“It’s slightly worse than last year but similar, yes,” Eirgrid’s chief operations officer Rodney Doyle replied when asked about the gap between electricity supply and demand in Ireland.
“Last winter we had a similar situation and we had no loss of power at all,” he added when asked about being short 280 megawatts at the start of winter.
Minister for the Environment Eamon Ryan told the committee that discussions on how to reform Europe’s electricity market to one that “really functions and brings us back into balance”, came from an “absolutely unprecedented increase in gas prices as a result of the war – and it is directly a result of the war”.
He said that discussions are ongoing in Europe on how to solve the problem of gas prices setting the price in the electricity market.
“How do we avoid that 14-fold increase in gas prices leading to a 14-fold or similar such increase in electricity prices?” he asked, adding that a meeting of EU energy ministers next week would examine that issue.
“I’ll be honest, the scale of the potential impact on the Irish householder, it’s this price impact due to the external shock by gas being used as a weapon of war in this war (the Russian invasion of Ukraine), is a factor of ten times more significance in terms the potential impact on Irish householders.
“This energy price crisis because of the war overshadows everything. It is absolutely dominant,” he added.
Mr Ryan said that a windfall tax was one of a number of measures the government would be considering.
He added: “I think what we need is everyone in this country now to really focus on energy efficiency in everything we do.
“Our ‘Reduce Your Use’ campaign is going to be ramped up… it’s the best protection against high prices.”
Chairwoman of the Commission for Regulation of Utilities Aoife MacEvilly told the committee that “all prices are going up for all customers at a level that we have not seen before, and that is of significant concern for all of us.”
Mark Foley, chief executive of Eirgrid, said that the two things that could cause electricity shortages in Ireland this winter would be a lack of wind in Ireland, meaning that they will need to buy supplies from Great Britain to make up the shortfall.
“Our greatest risk will manifest at times of very low to zero wind, and low imports from Great Britain,” Mr Foley said.
Contingency plans agreed “in forensic detail with the ESB and with major industrial units” are robust, he added.
“Neither I nor anyone else here before you today can offer a cast-iron guarantee for this winter.
“Nobody can. I can say that we’re very well prepared.
“And I can say that when the wind blows, we won’t have issues.
“The risk of end-customers being impacted is increased this winter because all jurisdictions across Europe are tight, interconnectors are stressed, and there will be times when there won’t be just be a stressed Irish system, it will be a stressed European system,” he added.
Mr Foley also told the committee that Eirgrid’s forecast of electricity demand “is not an issue”, that its prediction of what demand would be has been within “1-2%” of actual demand, and that the total growth in demand over the last five years has been 9%.
“This is not excessive for a vibrant western economy,” he added.
“As a country, we should be capable of meeting this demand without emergency intervention.”
When Mr Ryan was asked if there was an issue with the government being warned of possible energy supply issues, he said: “I believe all those three organisations serve the public interest.
“And yes, you have tensions and yes, you have difference, because people are passionate about this and they’re right to be passionate because it’s important for our country to get this right.
“So you will have different views, you’ll have arguments, you’ll have heated debate, but as soon as any problems arose, I’m absolutely confident that the regulator brought them to my attention or that Eirgrid similarly brought it to our attention.”
Eirgrid also told the committee that it is forecasting data centres and new tech will represent around 28% of demand in 2031 versus 17% last year.
Risk of electricity blackouts ‘slightly worse’ than last winter | BreakingNews.ie
‘This energy price crisis because of the war overshadows everything. It is absolutely dominant,’ Minister Eamon Ryan told a committee.
www.breakingnews.ie
MinnesotaSmith
Membership Revoked
Is mostly depleted.
CaryC
Has No Life - Lives on TB
One of the things that I have heard, put it in the rumor category (meaning notoriously unreliable) is that there is a plan to "nationalize the electric grid".
Which even with the super high prices nearly 10,000.00 over 2 months, will make it worse. The government will recoup their losses in the electric grid by higher taxes. The government doesn't produce anything, to sell, and only receives revenue by taxation.
On another note on how this will work, there is another article at Zerohedge, not related to this, that makes the case that all countries in all of history fleece the flock of their savings through taxes, when the government is in a down hill slide, and on it's way out. They use Louis XVI, as their prime example. Who increased the size and authority of his tax collectors.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
My Housemate (originally from Germany) refers to this guy (the Green minister who said things are almost the same as last year) as "Mr. Whichever Planet he is on and it isn't Earth." She said someone in a radio call-in show said it first, she just borrowed it but it sure fits..
Melodi
Disaster Cat
What I am expecting, is if the current situation continues, the government won't "have" to nationalize the provision of power because like the banks in 2008, they will end up owning them anyway.
As it is the largest "provider" (the old state company and then one that charged the women 10,000 Euro for two months of using an oven and a griddle) is still 90 percent state-owned.
The other "Providers" are quickly fleeing the market (and breaking their contracts) or likely to declare bankruptcy - which is exactly what happened to the banks in 2008.
With the banks, the EU told the Irish government at about 4 am, "nationalize the banks or your banking sector will be cut off before 8 am). I mean the banks kept their names and everything, but effectively they were and partly still are government banks.
The same will happen to the electrical "market" when the "providers" can't sell their "products" at prices people can physically pay. And yet, the other alternative of shutting down the power grid for a couple of years isn't likely to work out very well either.
Melodi
Disaster Cat
Yep, and as I have explained, when fuel hits about 10 dollars a gallon (ours was that high, now the Euro is lower than the dollar so our prices haven't changed but the value has) people drive a lot less. And, we drive about the same distances as my family did when I was growing up in rural California so no, the distances out here are not "shorter." But the supply chain for trucks once goods get into the country is a lot smaller than in the US, I wonder how much trucks will be running if their fuel is 10 dollars plus a gallon?
Families can combine trips and car pool, truck drivers not so much...
Families can combine trips and car pool, truck drivers not so much...
Marthanoir
TB Fanatic
Also the 2nd largest provider Bord Gais is a semi state owned company.
blueinterceptor
Veteran Member
And yet they will vote the same people in. You’d think that the red wave here would be a tidal wave at this point but alas, it’s not.
223shootersc
Veteran Member
STUPID hurts!
there are those that still believe you can vote your way out of this
blueinterceptor
Veteran Member
vote is relative to thinking the same way. The beliefs of the people hasn’t changed. So their vote won’t either.
CaryC
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Had you a long post/reply and when they merged the threads it wouldn't post.
I'm not re writing all that.
Which I originally thought to put it here, but since the article is specific to Ireland, didn't think applied.
And that will be the end of it if that comes to pass for any length of time. That puts HHO at about 9.50 around us.
Marthanoir
TB Fanatic
Yes thats why Biden will win in 2024, cause y'all love Biden, most votes ever,
Sure nobody would ever rig an election.
What makes you think that elections in European countries are any less rigged than US elections.
Infact how many EU elites do you think have actually been elected by the people to their positions of power.
Marthanoir
TB Fanatic
Yeah I just lost one too,
Marthanoir
TB Fanatic
I had a brainfart while eating lunch, easy solution.
Make everybody drive electric cars and that way you'll have all the diesel to run the power stations , I should be an advisor to AOC or sumptin
CaryC
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Man you a genius. LOLI had a brainfart while eating lunch, easy solution.
Make everybody drive electric cars and that way you'll have all the diesel to run the power stations , I should be an advisor to AOC or sumptin
Except of course if you live in CA, a European suburb, where this weekend, Labor Day Weekend, here in the States, a three day weekend, is telling their residents not to recharge their cars cuz like ya know dude, it's going to be hot and they need the electricity to run the AC. So don't go anywhere, on your three day weekend.
Marthanoir
TB Fanatic
That would be part of the game plan to make the people dependent on the government for everything.
Blacknarwhal
Let's Go Brandon!
Aaaaaand then this happened.
Fair use cited so on and so forth.
www.zerohedge.com
by Tyler Durden
Wednesday, Aug 31, 2022 - 05:14 AM
One month ago, we were surprised to read how, despite a suppressed appetite for energy amid its housing crash and economic downturn (for which "zero covid" has emerged as a convenient scapegoat for emperor Xi), China has been soaking up more Russian natural gas so far this year, while imports from most other sources declined.
In July, the SCMP reported that according to Chinese customs data, in the first six months of the year, China bought a total of 2.35 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) – valued at US$2.16 billion. The import volume increased by 28.7% year on year, with the value surging by 182%. It meant Russia has surpassed Indonesia and the United States to become China’s fourth-largest supplier of LNG so far this year!
This, of course, is not to be confused with pipeline gas, where Russian producer Gazprom recently announced that its daily supplies to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline had reached a new all-time high (Russia is China’s second-largest pipeline natural gas supplier after Turkmenistan), and earlier revealed that the supply of Russian pipeline gas to China had increased by 63.4% in the first half of 2022.
What was behind this bizarre surge in Russian LNG imports, analysts speculated? After all, while China imports over half of the natural gas it consumes, with around two-thirds in the form of LNG, demand this year had fallen sharply amid economic headwinds and widespread shutdowns. In other words, why the surge in Russian LNG when i) domestic demand is just not there and ii) at the expense of everyone else?
“The increase in Russian LNG could be a displacement of cargoes going to Japan or South Korea because of sanctions, or weaker demand there,” said Michal Meidan, director of the China Energy Programme at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.
One thing that was clear: China wanted to keep its arms-length gas dealing with Russia as unclear as possible, which is why the General Administration of Customs of China stopped publicizing the breakdown in trade volume for pipeline natural gas since the beginning of the year, with spokesman Li Kuiwen confirming that the move was to “protect the legitimate business rights and interests of the relevant importers and exporters”.
Well, we now know the answer: China has been quietly reselling that evil, tainted Russian LNG to the one place that desperately needs it more than anything. Europe... and of course, it is charging a kidney's worth of markups in the process.
As the FT reported recently, "Europe’s fears of gas shortages heading into winter may have been circumvented, thanks to an unexpected white knight: China." The Nikkei-owned publications further notes that "the world’s largest buyer of liquefied natural gas is reselling some of its surplus LNG cargoes due to weak energy demand at home. This has provided the spot market with an ample supply that Europe has tapped, despite the higher prices."
What the FT ignores, perhaps intentionally, is that it's not "surplus" - after all, if it was Chinese imports of Russian LNG would collapse. No - the correct word to describe the LNG that China sells to Europe is Russian.
Going back to the story, the details are intuitive: with Russian pipeline gas to Europe effectively shuttered...
... Europe’s imports of LNG have soared 60% year on year in the first six months of 2022, according to research firm Kpler.
Some more details:
Make no mistake: all of this "excess" LNG was soured in part or in whole in Russia, but since it has been "tolled" in China, it is no longer Russian. It is instead - drumroll - Chinese LNG.
The good news is that the 53 million tonnes that the bloc purchased surpasses imports by China and Japan and has brought Europe’s gas-storage occupancy rate up to 77%.If this continues, Europe is likely to reach its stated goal of filling 80% of its gas storage facilities by November (at which point it will start draining the reserves at a breakneck pace to keep warm during the winter). But while China’s economic slump has brought much-needed relief to Europe, it comes with a major footnote. As soon as economic activity bounces back in China, the situation will quickly reverse, and Beijing will no longer re-export Russia LNG to keep Europe warm.
Hilariously, it also means that instead of being dependent on Russia for gas, Europe is now becoming dependent on Beijing instead for its energy - which is still Russian gas, only this time imported from China - which makes a mockery of US geopolitical ambitions to defend a liberal international order with its own energy exports.
Worse, while Europe could buy Russian LNG for price X, it instead has to pay 2X, 3X or more, just to virtue signal to the world that it won't fund Putin's regime, when in reality is is paying extra to both Xi and to Putin, who is collecting a premium price thanks to the overall market scarcity.
Amusingly, without expressly stating it, the FT does imply that Europe is buying Russian LNG by way of China:
Why not just admit the obvious - that China is helping Russia skirt sanctions as both countries get very rich in the process? Because then the FT's own judgment - after all, the newspaper is a conduit of the neoliberal thinking that demanded a complete embargo on Russian energy, an embargo which even the WSJ now admits (see "Russia Confounds the West by Recapturing Its Oil Riches") has backfired spectacularly - would be put into question.
FT's flaws aside, the newspaper is correct that the longer this kind of circuitous bypass of Russian sanctions by a hypocritical Europe (which signals its virtue so loudly when the adversary is Russia but doesn't dare say peep when it's China) continues, the bigger China's influence on Europe will be:
In the end, all Europe has done is replace one energy master (as Trump warned in 2018) with another, even though both are joined at the hip and laughing at the stupidity of Brussels which, under the sage advice of a petulant Scandinavian teenager, made all of this possible just in time for China - which together with Putin now determines Europe's daily energy intake - to invade Taiwan without a peep from Europe's virtuous signalers.
Fair use cited so on and so forth.
China Is Aggressively Reselling Russian Gas To Europe | ZeroHedge
ZeroHedge - On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero
www.zerohedge.com
China Is Aggressively Reselling Russian Gas To Europe
by Tyler Durden
Wednesday, Aug 31, 2022 - 05:14 AM
One month ago, we were surprised to read how, despite a suppressed appetite for energy amid its housing crash and economic downturn (for which "zero covid" has emerged as a convenient scapegoat for emperor Xi), China has been soaking up more Russian natural gas so far this year, while imports from most other sources declined.
In July, the SCMP reported that according to Chinese customs data, in the first six months of the year, China bought a total of 2.35 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) – valued at US$2.16 billion. The import volume increased by 28.7% year on year, with the value surging by 182%. It meant Russia has surpassed Indonesia and the United States to become China’s fourth-largest supplier of LNG so far this year!
This, of course, is not to be confused with pipeline gas, where Russian producer Gazprom recently announced that its daily supplies to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline had reached a new all-time high (Russia is China’s second-largest pipeline natural gas supplier after Turkmenistan), and earlier revealed that the supply of Russian pipeline gas to China had increased by 63.4% in the first half of 2022.
What was behind this bizarre surge in Russian LNG imports, analysts speculated? After all, while China imports over half of the natural gas it consumes, with around two-thirds in the form of LNG, demand this year had fallen sharply amid economic headwinds and widespread shutdowns. In other words, why the surge in Russian LNG when i) domestic demand is just not there and ii) at the expense of everyone else?
“The increase in Russian LNG could be a displacement of cargoes going to Japan or South Korea because of sanctions, or weaker demand there,” said Michal Meidan, director of the China Energy Programme at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies.
One thing that was clear: China wanted to keep its arms-length gas dealing with Russia as unclear as possible, which is why the General Administration of Customs of China stopped publicizing the breakdown in trade volume for pipeline natural gas since the beginning of the year, with spokesman Li Kuiwen confirming that the move was to “protect the legitimate business rights and interests of the relevant importers and exporters”.
Well, we now know the answer: China has been quietly reselling that evil, tainted Russian LNG to the one place that desperately needs it more than anything. Europe... and of course, it is charging a kidney's worth of markups in the process.
As the FT reported recently, "Europe’s fears of gas shortages heading into winter may have been circumvented, thanks to an unexpected white knight: China." The Nikkei-owned publications further notes that "the world’s largest buyer of liquefied natural gas is reselling some of its surplus LNG cargoes due to weak energy demand at home. This has provided the spot market with an ample supply that Europe has tapped, despite the higher prices."
What the FT ignores, perhaps intentionally, is that it's not "surplus" - after all, if it was Chinese imports of Russian LNG would collapse. No - the correct word to describe the LNG that China sells to Europe is Russian.
Going back to the story, the details are intuitive: with Russian pipeline gas to Europe effectively shuttered...
... Europe’s imports of LNG have soared 60% year on year in the first six months of 2022, according to research firm Kpler.
Some more details:
Make no mistake: all of this "excess" LNG was soured in part or in whole in Russia, but since it has been "tolled" in China, it is no longer Russian. It is instead - drumroll - Chinese LNG.
The good news is that the 53 million tonnes that the bloc purchased surpasses imports by China and Japan and has brought Europe’s gas-storage occupancy rate up to 77%.If this continues, Europe is likely to reach its stated goal of filling 80% of its gas storage facilities by November (at which point it will start draining the reserves at a breakneck pace to keep warm during the winter). But while China’s economic slump has brought much-needed relief to Europe, it comes with a major footnote. As soon as economic activity bounces back in China, the situation will quickly reverse, and Beijing will no longer re-export Russia LNG to keep Europe warm.
Hilariously, it also means that instead of being dependent on Russia for gas, Europe is now becoming dependent on Beijing instead for its energy - which is still Russian gas, only this time imported from China - which makes a mockery of US geopolitical ambitions to defend a liberal international order with its own energy exports.
Worse, while Europe could buy Russian LNG for price X, it instead has to pay 2X, 3X or more, just to virtue signal to the world that it won't fund Putin's regime, when in reality is is paying extra to both Xi and to Putin, who is collecting a premium price thanks to the overall market scarcity.
Amusingly, without expressly stating it, the FT does imply that Europe is buying Russian LNG by way of China:
Why not just admit the obvious - that China is helping Russia skirt sanctions as both countries get very rich in the process? Because then the FT's own judgment - after all, the newspaper is a conduit of the neoliberal thinking that demanded a complete embargo on Russian energy, an embargo which even the WSJ now admits (see "Russia Confounds the West by Recapturing Its Oil Riches") has backfired spectacularly - would be put into question.
FT's flaws aside, the newspaper is correct that the longer this kind of circuitous bypass of Russian sanctions by a hypocritical Europe (which signals its virtue so loudly when the adversary is Russia but doesn't dare say peep when it's China) continues, the bigger China's influence on Europe will be:
In the end, all Europe has done is replace one energy master (as Trump warned in 2018) with another, even though both are joined at the hip and laughing at the stupidity of Brussels which, under the sage advice of a petulant Scandinavian teenager, made all of this possible just in time for China - which together with Putin now determines Europe's daily energy intake - to invade Taiwan without a peep from Europe's virtuous signalers.
Walrus Whisperer
Hope in chains...
That's one of my favorite movies!
Blacknarwhal
Let's Go Brandon!
So who do YOU figure was right? Manhattan, who was willing to lie to keep the world from killing itself, or Rorschach, who insisted on the truth regardless of the consequences?
intothatgoodnight
. . .
Good observations about the lack of accountability in how big energy treats the end-consumer - illustrates how large corporations can distort markets in ways that are NOT in the individual consumer's best interest, in the end. Big medical and big retail also come to mind, here. (Walmart versus mom and pop, anyone?)
Question that must be asked - in your big energy example, where does the consumer ACTUALLY have a "steering wheel" to direct the consumer desired outcome?
Via (s)elected (read: bought) politicos?
Uh-huh.
intothegoodnight
intothatgoodnight
. . .
As our 2020 national (s)elections clearly demonstrated, we cannot forget the overwhelming effect of those "that count the votes" - neutering anything that the individual citizen voter may have wished, in favor of the desires of a hidden group of deep-pockets whose proxies "count the vote."
intothegoodnight
What little gas was flowing to Europe, is shut down again,
Fair Use Cited
---------------
Russia Halts Nord Stream Gas Pipeline, Ratcheting Up Pressure on Europe
European nations racing to fill gas storage facilities before onset of winter
By Georgi KantchevFollow
Updated Aug. 31, 2022 9:13 am ET
BERLIN—Russia shut down its main artery for natural gas to Europe for maintenance on Wednesday, in what Western governments see as the latest salvo in the Kremlin’s economic war on the continent.
The halt comes as European nations race to fill gas storage facilities to prevent a shortage in the midst of winter. Shortages would trigger rationing, likely kneecapping industry and tipping the continent’s already struggling economy into a recession.
Moscow has already throttled back deliveries over the Nord Stream pipeline—which links Russia’s prolific Siberian gas fields with Germany under the Baltic Sea—to just 20% of its maximum capacity, citing technical issues with its turbines. European officials have dismissed these explanations and have called the gas cuts an economic attack in retaliation for supporting Ukraine in the war.
On Wednesday, the Kremlin-controlled gas giant Gazprom PJSC said that it had completely halted the Nord Stream pipeline as “scheduled preventive work begins at the gas compressor unit.” The pipeline is due to come back online early on Saturday.
European officials and analysts, however, have questioned whether Gazprom would restart the pipeline as planned. Some expect Moscow to find new technical pretexts to prolong the outage, while others see Gazprom keeping gas flowing at a low level to create uncertainty and manipulate gas prices.
“Gas prices and European sentiment are about to face a major stress test as the Nord Stream pipeline gets shut for maintenance today for three days, and there is growing concern that another reduction in supply or a complete cutoff in flows may follow at the end of the week,” analysts at ING Bank wrote in a report to clients on Wednesday.
Gas prices in Europe, which have traded at record highs in recent weeks, fell on Wednesday, with futures for gas at a trading hub in the Netherlands, the benchmark in northwest Europe, dropping more than 5%.
Gas is a key fuel for the European economy, heating homes and fueling factories such as smelters and fertilizer plants. Soaring prices for electricity have forced some industrial operations in Europe to announce shutdowns in recent weeks, including energy-intensive metal forging operations.
First opened in 2011, the 760-mile-long Nord Stream pipeline has been an important source of gas for Germany, Europe’s largest economy. Before the war, Russia covered over half of Germany’s gas imports, but supply cuts via Nord Stream affect other European customers because Germany exports some of the gas abroad. There are other gas pipelines from Russia to Europe, but Russia has also throttled flows through these in the wake of the war.
Unlike the 10-day annual maintenance in July, the current Nord Stream shut-off caught officials and traders by surprise when it was announced earlier this month. Maintenance operations are usually telegraphed well in advance so that utilities and traders can make alternative arrangements.
While Gazprom restored gas flows following the works in July, it limited supplies just days later, citing technical problems with turbines. The company insists that a key turbine couldn't be sent to Russia after it was maintained in Canada because of international sanctions on Moscow. But Germany, where the turbine was located, said that there are no obstacles and that Moscow was in fact blocking the turbine’s return to Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday said nothing will interfere with gas supplies via Nord Stream “apart from technical problems caused by sanctions.”
Gazprom said on Tuesday that it would suspend gas supplies to French utility Engie SA from Thursday over a contractual dispute. Engie said that it had already secured enough gas volumes to ensure supply and has undertaken measures to mitigate any interruption by Gazprom.
While a complete halt of Nord Stream deliveries would worsen Europe’s energy balance during winter when demand is at its seasonal peak, the European Union has been filling its storage facilities faster than expected.
Germany, which has Europe’s largest gas stores, is close to hitting its 85% gas storage target, initially set for Oct. 1. German officials, however, have warned that reaching the next milestone of 95% by Nov. 1 would be challenging unless companies and households cut consumption.
“We can take gas from the storage in the winter, we are saving gas (and need to keep doing so!),” Klaus Müller, the head of the country’s energy regulator, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
High gas prices have reduced industrial demand. Increased imports via pipeline from Norway and shipments of liquefied natural gas from the U.S. have put Europe in a stronger position ahead of winter than many analysts forecast when Gazprom first cut supplies through Nord Stream in June. At the same time, there are concerns that supplies from producers besides Russia might not be enough to satisfy European demand later next year.
“Effectively we’ve sacrificed, especially in Germany, industrial consumption over the past month to hit really, really ambitious storage targets,” said Ben McWilliams, an analyst at the Bruegel think tank, adding that the amount of gas in storage makes government-enforced rationing this winter less likely.
For Russia, cutting the supply of gas to Europe isn’t without risk, as the continent has traditionally been Gazprom’s main market and provides a big part of the company’s revenue. Domestic storage, meanwhile, is filling up fast and some gas wells might need to be closed, many of which will be technically difficult to reopen. Russia’s options to reroute the gas flows to Asia or other markets are limited by its traditionally Europe-facing infrastructure.
But despite the limited flows abroad, the company was able to record hefty profits.
“Despite the decline in gas supplies to foreign markets, to markets far abroad, our calculations absolutely clearly show that the financial results of Gazprom, our revenue for 2022, will be significantly higher than in 2021,” Chief Executive Alexei Miller said Wednesday, according to the Russian news agency, TASS.
www.wsj.com
Fair Use Cited
---------------
Russia Halts Nord Stream Gas Pipeline, Ratcheting Up Pressure on Europe
European nations racing to fill gas storage facilities before onset of winter
By Georgi KantchevFollow
Updated Aug. 31, 2022 9:13 am ET
BERLIN—Russia shut down its main artery for natural gas to Europe for maintenance on Wednesday, in what Western governments see as the latest salvo in the Kremlin’s economic war on the continent.
The halt comes as European nations race to fill gas storage facilities to prevent a shortage in the midst of winter. Shortages would trigger rationing, likely kneecapping industry and tipping the continent’s already struggling economy into a recession.
Moscow has already throttled back deliveries over the Nord Stream pipeline—which links Russia’s prolific Siberian gas fields with Germany under the Baltic Sea—to just 20% of its maximum capacity, citing technical issues with its turbines. European officials have dismissed these explanations and have called the gas cuts an economic attack in retaliation for supporting Ukraine in the war.
On Wednesday, the Kremlin-controlled gas giant Gazprom PJSC said that it had completely halted the Nord Stream pipeline as “scheduled preventive work begins at the gas compressor unit.” The pipeline is due to come back online early on Saturday.
European officials and analysts, however, have questioned whether Gazprom would restart the pipeline as planned. Some expect Moscow to find new technical pretexts to prolong the outage, while others see Gazprom keeping gas flowing at a low level to create uncertainty and manipulate gas prices.
“Gas prices and European sentiment are about to face a major stress test as the Nord Stream pipeline gets shut for maintenance today for three days, and there is growing concern that another reduction in supply or a complete cutoff in flows may follow at the end of the week,” analysts at ING Bank wrote in a report to clients on Wednesday.
Gas prices in Europe, which have traded at record highs in recent weeks, fell on Wednesday, with futures for gas at a trading hub in the Netherlands, the benchmark in northwest Europe, dropping more than 5%.
Gas is a key fuel for the European economy, heating homes and fueling factories such as smelters and fertilizer plants. Soaring prices for electricity have forced some industrial operations in Europe to announce shutdowns in recent weeks, including energy-intensive metal forging operations.
First opened in 2011, the 760-mile-long Nord Stream pipeline has been an important source of gas for Germany, Europe’s largest economy. Before the war, Russia covered over half of Germany’s gas imports, but supply cuts via Nord Stream affect other European customers because Germany exports some of the gas abroad. There are other gas pipelines from Russia to Europe, but Russia has also throttled flows through these in the wake of the war.
Unlike the 10-day annual maintenance in July, the current Nord Stream shut-off caught officials and traders by surprise when it was announced earlier this month. Maintenance operations are usually telegraphed well in advance so that utilities and traders can make alternative arrangements.
While Gazprom restored gas flows following the works in July, it limited supplies just days later, citing technical problems with turbines. The company insists that a key turbine couldn't be sent to Russia after it was maintained in Canada because of international sanctions on Moscow. But Germany, where the turbine was located, said that there are no obstacles and that Moscow was in fact blocking the turbine’s return to Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday said nothing will interfere with gas supplies via Nord Stream “apart from technical problems caused by sanctions.”
Gazprom said on Tuesday that it would suspend gas supplies to French utility Engie SA from Thursday over a contractual dispute. Engie said that it had already secured enough gas volumes to ensure supply and has undertaken measures to mitigate any interruption by Gazprom.
While a complete halt of Nord Stream deliveries would worsen Europe’s energy balance during winter when demand is at its seasonal peak, the European Union has been filling its storage facilities faster than expected.
Germany, which has Europe’s largest gas stores, is close to hitting its 85% gas storage target, initially set for Oct. 1. German officials, however, have warned that reaching the next milestone of 95% by Nov. 1 would be challenging unless companies and households cut consumption.
“We can take gas from the storage in the winter, we are saving gas (and need to keep doing so!),” Klaus Müller, the head of the country’s energy regulator, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
High gas prices have reduced industrial demand. Increased imports via pipeline from Norway and shipments of liquefied natural gas from the U.S. have put Europe in a stronger position ahead of winter than many analysts forecast when Gazprom first cut supplies through Nord Stream in June. At the same time, there are concerns that supplies from producers besides Russia might not be enough to satisfy European demand later next year.
“Effectively we’ve sacrificed, especially in Germany, industrial consumption over the past month to hit really, really ambitious storage targets,” said Ben McWilliams, an analyst at the Bruegel think tank, adding that the amount of gas in storage makes government-enforced rationing this winter less likely.
For Russia, cutting the supply of gas to Europe isn’t without risk, as the continent has traditionally been Gazprom’s main market and provides a big part of the company’s revenue. Domestic storage, meanwhile, is filling up fast and some gas wells might need to be closed, many of which will be technically difficult to reopen. Russia’s options to reroute the gas flows to Asia or other markets are limited by its traditionally Europe-facing infrastructure.
But despite the limited flows abroad, the company was able to record hefty profits.
“Despite the decline in gas supplies to foreign markets, to markets far abroad, our calculations absolutely clearly show that the financial results of Gazprom, our revenue for 2022, will be significantly higher than in 2021,” Chief Executive Alexei Miller said Wednesday, according to the Russian news agency, TASS.
Russia Halts Nord Stream Gas Pipeline, Ratcheting Up Pressure on Europe
Western governments see the three-day shutdown as the latest salvo in the Kremlin’s economic war on Europe.
www.wsj.com
Last edited:
Europe expects the Russians to find another technical reason for shutting down the pipeline . . .what little gas was flowing to Europe, is shut down again,
Fair Use Cited
---------------
Russia Halts Nord Stream Gas Pipeline, Ratcheting Up Pressure on Europe
European nations racing to fill gas storage facilities before onset of winter
By Georgi KantchevFollow
Updated Aug. 31, 2022 9:13 am ET
BERLIN—Russia shut down its main artery for natural gas to Europe for maintenance on Wednesday, in what Western governments see as the latest salvo in the Kremlin’s economic war on the continent.
The halt comes as European nations race to fill gas storage facilities to prevent a shortage in the midst of winter. Shortages would trigger rationing, likely kneecapping industry and tipping the continent’s already struggling economy into a recession.
Moscow has already throttled back deliveries over the Nord Stream pipeline—which links Russia’s prolific Siberian gas fields with Germany under the Baltic Sea—to just 20% of its maximum capacity, citing technical issues with its turbines. European officials have dismissed these explanations and have called the gas cuts an economic attack in retaliation for supporting Ukraine in the war.
On Wednesday, the Kremlin-controlled gas giant Gazprom PJSC said that it had completely halted the Nord Stream pipeline as “scheduled preventive work begins at the gas compressor unit.” The pipeline is due to come back online early on Saturday.
European officials and analysts, however, have questioned whether Gazprom would restart the pipeline as planned. Some expect Moscow to find new technical pretexts to prolong the outage, while others see Gazprom keeping gas flowing at a low level to create uncertainty and manipulate gas prices.
“Gas prices and European sentiment are about to face a major stress test as the Nord Stream pipeline gets shut for maintenance today for three days, and there is growing concern that another reduction in supply or a complete cutoff in flows may follow at the end of the week,” analysts at ING Bank wrote in a report to clients on Wednesday.
Gas prices in Europe, which have traded at record highs in recent weeks, fell on Wednesday, with futures for gas at a trading hub in the Netherlands, the benchmark in northwest Europe, dropping more than 5%.
Gas is a key fuel for the European economy, heating homes and fueling factories such as smelters and fertilizer plants. Soaring prices for electricity have forced some industrial operations in Europe to announce shutdowns in recent weeks, including energy-intensive metal forging operations.
First opened in 2011, the 760-mile-long Nord Stream pipeline has been an important source of gas for Germany, Europe’s largest economy. Before the war, Russia covered over half of Germany’s gas imports, but supply cuts via Nord Stream affect other European customers because Germany exports some of the gas abroad. There are other gas pipelines from Russia to Europe, but Russia has also throttled flows through these in the wake of the war.
Unlike the 10-day annual maintenance in July, the current Nord Stream shut-off caught officials and traders by surprise when it was announced earlier this month. Maintenance operations are usually telegraphed well in advance so that utilities and traders can make alternative arrangements.
While Gazprom restored gas flows following the works in July, it limited supplies just days later, citing technical problems with turbines. The company insists that a key turbine couldn't be sent to Russia after it was maintained in Canada because of international sanctions on Moscow. But Germany, where the turbine was located, said that there are no obstacles and that Moscow was in fact blocking the turbine’s return to Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday said nothing will interfere with gas supplies via Nord Stream “apart from technical problems caused by sanctions.”
Gazprom said on Tuesday that it would suspend gas supplies to French utility Engie SA from Thursday over a contractual dispute. Engie said that it had already secured enough gas volumes to ensure supply and has undertaken measures to mitigate any interruption by Gazprom.
While a complete halt of Nord Stream deliveries would worsen Europe’s energy balance during winter when demand is at its seasonal peak, the European Union has been filling its storage facilities faster than expected.
Germany, which has Europe’s largest gas stores, is close to hitting its 85% gas storage target, initially set for Oct. 1. German officials, however, have warned that reaching the next milestone of 95% by Nov. 1 would be challenging unless companies and households cut consumption.
“We can take gas from the storage in the winter, we are saving gas (and need to keep doing so!),” Klaus Müller, the head of the country’s energy regulator, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
High gas prices have reduced industrial demand. Increased imports via pipeline from Norway and shipments of liquefied natural gas from the U.S. have put Europe in a stronger position ahead of winter than many analysts forecast when Gazprom first cut supplies through Nord Stream in June. At the same time, there are concerns that supplies from producers besides Russia might not be enough to satisfy European demand later next year.
“Effectively we’ve sacrificed, especially in Germany, industrial consumption over the past month to hit really, really ambitious storage targets,” said Ben McWilliams, an analyst at the Bruegel think tank, adding that the amount of gas in storage makes government-enforced rationing this winter less likely.
For Russia, cutting the supply of gas to Europe isn’t without risk, as the continent has traditionally been Gazprom’s main market and provides a big part of the company’s revenue. Domestic storage, meanwhile, is filling up fast and some gas wells might need to be closed, many of which will be technically difficult to reopen. Russia’s options to reroute the gas flows to Asia or other markets are limited by its traditionally Europe-facing infrastructure.
But despite the limited flows abroad, the company was able to record hefty profits.
“Despite the decline in gas supplies to foreign markets, to markets far abroad, our calculations absolutely clearly show that the financial results of Gazprom, our revenue for 2022, will be significantly higher than in 2021,” Chief Executive Alexei Miller said Wednesday, according to the Russian news agency, TASS.
Russia Halts Nord Stream Gas Pipeline, Ratcheting Up Pressure on Europe
Western governments see the three-day shutdown as the latest salvo in the Kremlin’s economic war on Europe.
because . . . it is what I would do, it is what they would do, it is what any rational country would do.
It is surprising that Russia is shipping any energy to Europe.
Hawkgirl_70
Veteran Member
No kidding. If I was Russia, I'd order an immediate stop to any Natural Gas.
PLUS, I'd order the bombings of the power grid and fuel depots all over Ukraine.
I can't understand why Russia doesn't want to end this war.
intothatgoodnight
. . .
Does this latest Russian "shut-down" of the pipeline have anything to do with the pipeline "gear" that was awaiting repair in Canada recently?what little gas was flowing to Europe, is shut down again,
Fair Use Cited
---------------
Russia Halts Nord Stream Gas Pipeline, Ratcheting Up Pressure on Europe
European nations racing to fill gas storage facilities before onset of winter
By Georgi KantchevFollow
Updated Aug. 31, 2022 9:13 am ET
BERLIN—Russia shut down its main artery for natural gas to Europe for maintenance on Wednesday, in what Western governments see as the latest salvo in the Kremlin’s economic war on the continent.
The halt comes as European nations race to fill gas storage facilities to prevent a shortage in the midst of winter. Shortages would trigger rationing, likely kneecapping industry and tipping the continent’s already struggling economy into a recession.
Moscow has already throttled back deliveries over the Nord Stream pipeline—which links Russia’s prolific Siberian gas fields with Germany under the Baltic Sea—to just 20% of its maximum capacity, citing technical issues with its turbines. European officials have dismissed these explanations and have called the gas cuts an economic attack in retaliation for supporting Ukraine in the war.
On Wednesday, the Kremlin-controlled gas giant Gazprom PJSC said that it had completely halted the Nord Stream pipeline as “scheduled preventive work begins at the gas compressor unit.” The pipeline is due to come back online early on Saturday.
European officials and analysts, however, have questioned whether Gazprom would restart the pipeline as planned. Some expect Moscow to find new technical pretexts to prolong the outage, while others see Gazprom keeping gas flowing at a low level to create uncertainty and manipulate gas prices.
“Gas prices and European sentiment are about to face a major stress test as the Nord Stream pipeline gets shut for maintenance today for three days, and there is growing concern that another reduction in supply or a complete cutoff in flows may follow at the end of the week,” analysts at ING Bank wrote in a report to clients on Wednesday.
Gas prices in Europe, which have traded at record highs in recent weeks, fell on Wednesday, with futures for gas at a trading hub in the Netherlands, the benchmark in northwest Europe, dropping more than 5%.
Gas is a key fuel for the European economy, heating homes and fueling factories such as smelters and fertilizer plants. Soaring prices for electricity have forced some industrial operations in Europe to announce shutdowns in recent weeks, including energy-intensive metal forging operations.
First opened in 2011, the 760-mile-long Nord Stream pipeline has been an important source of gas for Germany, Europe’s largest economy. Before the war, Russia covered over half of Germany’s gas imports, but supply cuts via Nord Stream affect other European customers because Germany exports some of the gas abroad. There are other gas pipelines from Russia to Europe, but Russia has also throttled flows through these in the wake of the war.
Unlike the 10-day annual maintenance in July, the current Nord Stream shut-off caught officials and traders by surprise when it was announced earlier this month. Maintenance operations are usually telegraphed well in advance so that utilities and traders can make alternative arrangements.
While Gazprom restored gas flows following the works in July, it limited supplies just days later, citing technical problems with turbines. The company insists that a key turbine couldn't be sent to Russia after it was maintained in Canada because of international sanctions on Moscow. But Germany, where the turbine was located, said that there are no obstacles and that Moscow was in fact blocking the turbine’s return to Russia.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Tuesday said nothing will interfere with gas supplies via Nord Stream “apart from technical problems caused by sanctions.”
Gazprom said on Tuesday that it would suspend gas supplies to French utility Engie SA from Thursday over a contractual dispute. Engie said that it had already secured enough gas volumes to ensure supply and has undertaken measures to mitigate any interruption by Gazprom.
While a complete halt of Nord Stream deliveries would worsen Europe’s energy balance during winter when demand is at its seasonal peak, the European Union has been filling its storage facilities faster than expected.
Germany, which has Europe’s largest gas stores, is close to hitting its 85% gas storage target, initially set for Oct. 1. German officials, however, have warned that reaching the next milestone of 95% by Nov. 1 would be challenging unless companies and households cut consumption.
“We can take gas from the storage in the winter, we are saving gas (and need to keep doing so!),” Klaus Müller, the head of the country’s energy regulator, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
High gas prices have reduced industrial demand. Increased imports via pipeline from Norway and shipments of liquefied natural gas from the U.S. have put Europe in a stronger position ahead of winter than many analysts forecast when Gazprom first cut supplies through Nord Stream in June. At the same time, there are concerns that supplies from producers besides Russia might not be enough to satisfy European demand later next year.
“Effectively we’ve sacrificed, especially in Germany, industrial consumption over the past month to hit really, really ambitious storage targets,” said Ben McWilliams, an analyst at the Bruegel think tank, adding that the amount of gas in storage makes government-enforced rationing this winter less likely.
For Russia, cutting the supply of gas to Europe isn’t without risk, as the continent has traditionally been Gazprom’s main market and provides a big part of the company’s revenue. Domestic storage, meanwhile, is filling up fast and some gas wells might need to be closed, many of which will be technically difficult to reopen. Russia’s options to reroute the gas flows to Asia or other markets are limited by its traditionally Europe-facing infrastructure.
But despite the limited flows abroad, the company was able to record hefty profits.
“Despite the decline in gas supplies to foreign markets, to markets far abroad, our calculations absolutely clearly show that the financial results of Gazprom, our revenue for 2022, will be significantly higher than in 2021,” Chief Executive Alexei Miller said Wednesday, according to the Russian news agency, TASS.
Russia Halts Nord Stream Gas Pipeline, Ratcheting Up Pressure on Europe
Western governments see the three-day shutdown as the latest salvo in the Kremlin’s economic war on Europe.
As I recall, Russia claimed that their Siemens pipeline "gear" was awaiting repair in Canada, but the repairs had been delayed by the Canadian-Siemens repair depot due to western directed (political) sanctions against Russia.
Were these repairs finally accomplished, and was this repaired Siemens pipeline "gear" finally shipped back to Russia?
Is the present Russian pipeline shutdown to allow this repaired Siemens pipeline "gear" to be installed?
Is this WSJ article simply more anti-Russian sturm und drang rhetoric emitted by American deep-stater controlled media?
Propaganda heavy and "fact" light.
intothegoodnight
Last edited:
Walrus Whisperer
Hope in chains...
Neither one of them. My liking for the movie stems from the love scene where they play that wonderful song. Hallelujah ....
The fourth, the fifth, the minor lift, .......
I gotta yank that one out of the movie stack....
I believe in the truth, basically, by the way.
intothatgoodnight
. . .
Russia uses its energy sales to maintain/improve the value of the ruble, when compared to the U.S. dollar - see the recent rise of the value of the ruble over the last several months.
Simultaneously, while improving the value of the ruble against the dollar, Russia ALSO causes issues with the value of the EU dollar - when compared to both the U.S. dollar and the ruble.
Win-win-win.
Tiddlywinks versus chess.
Not hard to see nor understand.
"It's the economy, stupid." (quoting James Carville, advisor to Bill Clinton's re-election campaign) (not directed at you, personally)
This IS THE WAY that these deep state international money/political folks think.
intothegoodnight
Last edited:
intothatgoodnight
. . .
Such choices by Russia would not "end the war."
This is a banker's war - an information and economic war, as much as it is (nominally) a "bullets and bombs" war.
Per se, this is not about a Russian-desired land-grab of Europe - otherwise, Russia would already be camped out in some European capitol, somewhere, just for the optics.
intothegoodnight
Last edited:
intothatgoodnight
. . .
When you stop and think about it all, Russia is dictating "terms" to a recalcitrant and entrenched western deep state communists and central banking cartel. It is Russia that is on the offensive, and the deep state/western central banking cartel that are operating from a defensive posture.
The Ukraine is merely a pawn being used and abused by both sides - the western deep state communists/central banking cartel AND the Russians. In this instance, the western deep state communists and central banking cartel find their international control of the western economic system jeopardized and under attack by a non-deep state banking/economic element in the form of Russia.
Russia has the sophistication, financial, economic and military means to undermine the entrenched western deep state communists and central banking cartel.
In some ways, the Russian involvement in the Ukraine is similar to the U.S. involvement in Vietnam - and for similar reasons - and with similar alignments between a communist-supported proxy element versus western central bankers and their MIC "tool."
Everyone, on both sides, made bank in the Vietnam "dust-up," except the combatants/blood expenditure required on all sides.
Banker's wars.
intothegoodnight
The Ukraine is merely a pawn being used and abused by both sides - the western deep state communists/central banking cartel AND the Russians. In this instance, the western deep state communists and central banking cartel find their international control of the western economic system jeopardized and under attack by a non-deep state banking/economic element in the form of Russia.
Russia has the sophistication, financial, economic and military means to undermine the entrenched western deep state communists and central banking cartel.
In some ways, the Russian involvement in the Ukraine is similar to the U.S. involvement in Vietnam - and for similar reasons - and with similar alignments between a communist-supported proxy element versus western central bankers and their MIC "tool."
Everyone, on both sides, made bank in the Vietnam "dust-up," except the combatants/blood expenditure required on all sides.
Banker's wars.
intothegoodnight
Last edited:
Zagdid
Veteran Member
For the French company Engie, the cutoff was for lack of payment on gas delivered in July.
