Hong Kong's Ming Pao reported that the energy war between the EU and Russia has intensified, seriously threatening the European economy and people's livelihood this winter. At the meeting of EU member states held last week, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen put forward five countermeasures, including imposing price restrictions on Russian natural gas, which is less than about one-fifth of the current price of Russian natural gas. In this regard, Russian President Vladimir Putin criticized this as "stupid", saying that "if this goes against our interests, we will not supply anything at all", and European countries have different opinions on this proposal. The energy crisis in the European Union was caused by the Russian-Ukrainian war, but its roots can be traced back to a long time ago. Now, catastrophe is imminent. We should not stop at the root of the problem, but help others.
The article points out that after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the West launched a series of economic sanctions against Russia, but as a big energy exporter, Russia's oil and gas exports benefited from the shortage of the international market. According to the latest report of a Finnish think tank, in the past six months, Russia's energy export income far exceeded the war expenditure, while the EU remained the biggest buyer. The west immediately considered "price restrictions" on Russian energy to reduce its war capability. Earlier this month, the Group of Seven (G7) reached an agreement on "Russian oil price limit". The Russian side announced that the "Beixi 1 Line" pipeline for gas transmission to the EU stopped running "due to multiple equipment failures". After the news came out, European natural gas futures prices rose by 35%.
According to the article, Russia has greatly reduced its natural gas exports to Europe for various reasons, and European countries are making the worst plans for the coming winter. In the latest report, JPMorgan Chase warned that it is not excluded that non-essential industries in many European countries will be forced to cut off gas this winter, or even "cut off gas by turns". The most pessimistic forecast is that the energy crisis in Europe may last until 2025.
The article points out that in fact, the European energy crisis seems to originate from the Russian-Ukrainian war and sanctions against Russia, but it is more the result of its own energy strategic planning and practical mistakes. Even without the Russian-Ukrainian war, Europe will face a similar crisis sooner or later. Europe has now woken up and started to look for alternative natural gas resources, but it seems too late.
The article believes that the lack of foresight has laid the bane of the European energy crisis, and followed the US sanctions against Russia to make it fall into a whirlpool. On the contrary, the United States made a fortune by exporting liquefied natural gas to Europe. Some European countries have proposed to limit the price of all imported natural gas, but does the EU dare to limit the price of liquefied natural gas in the United States? In the short term, no country except Russia can save Europe from the energy dilemma. # German Chancellor says Russia is ready to cut off natural gas supply # # Buffett continues to mop up western oil # # Europe turns off extra lights at night under the energy crisis # Headline hot search list