The following report is from ZeroHedge:
After European nations imported the most gas from Russian sources yesterday in months, scrambling to stock up on supplies as Russian President Vladimir Putin’s deadline to either pay for gas in rubles (or be cut off) came and went, Russian gas giant Gazprom has officially halted all deliveries to Europe via the Yamal-Europe pipeline, a critical artery for European energy supplies.
Instead of flowing toward Germany and the EU, gas supplies on Friday and Saturday started flowing in the opposite direction, according to Gascade, the network operator.
In recent months, the EU has already boosted imports of LNG from the US…
…and despite President Biden’s promise to bolster to exports to the EU (although he stipulated that not all of this additional capacity would come from the US), researchers at Goldman Sachs have already shown that US exports of LNG are already at capacity.
Another problem for pipeline-dependent Europe: the continent presently doesn’t have the infrastructure to allow it to rapidly ramp up imports of LNG, which must be carefully processed and “regassified” before it can be distributed to utilities and other distributors of energy.
A map below illustrates the level of dependence that various European economies have on Russia.
But it’s not just the Germans who must now make due without Russian gas supplies. British energy major Shell is being cut off from Russian supplies in response to the UK’s economic sanctions on Russia, said Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
London wants to be the leader of everything anti-Russian. It even wants to be ahead of Washington! That’s the cost!
Peskov outlined.
So far, the UK is the only country to have imposed sanctions on Russia’s Gazprombank, through which payments for Russian natural gas are made. The measure effectively denies Britain the ability to pay for the commodity, and has forced Gazprom to walk away from the sales and trading arm. In accordance with Putin’s decree that Russian gas be paid for in rubles, Gazprom has set up foreign-currency accounts for customers where their currencies can be converted into rubles on the Moscow exchange.
Now that Putin is turning up the pressure, the European nations have a difficult choice ahead: either they can play ball and demonstrate to the world that their efforts to wean themselves off of their dependence on Russian energy have been mostly in vain. Or they can face a “catastrophic” economic crisis as energy prices soar, leading to rationing, blackouts and other measures that will make the 1970s oil crisis in the US look like child’s play.
AUTHOR COMMENTARY
As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.
Proverbs 25:25
This may not seem like good news to those who lack vision and ambition to seize the opportunity, but as we transition into Spring, those in Europe, America, Canada, and so forth, should perhaps consider buying some winter gear now; as many of these goods are usually cheaper and on clearance. Better to get them now than wait to till Autumn when the masses blitz the stores for clothing and ways to stay warm.
[23] Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds. [24] For riches are not for ever: and doth the crown endure to every generation? [25] The hay appeareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered. [26] The lambs are for thy clothing, and the goats are the price of the field. [27] And thou shalt have goats’ milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and for the maintenance for thy maidens.Proverbs 27:23-27
With fuel shortages a legitimate problem now, the International Energy Agency’s vision of implementing things like car-free Sundays, driving slower, carpooling, going electric, and more, will surely come to pass eventually.
International Energy Agency Calls For ‘Car-Free Sundays’ And Other Ways To Reduce Oil Use
[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
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