Posted on 12/03/2024 4:47:10 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
Rising gas prices in recent weeks have brought back some bad memories for European energy traders — and governments.
Recollections are fresh of the problems that hit energy markets following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. As the continent scrambled to end its dependence on Russian gas, prices soared.
Prices spiked in November, hitting almost €49 ($51.6) per megawatt-hour (MWh) on November 21, the highest price in over a year.
The cold weather has led to more heating being used, and combined with low wind speeds in northern Europe and the resulting fall in renewable supply, gas is in higher demand.
Remarkably, despite everything that has happened in the last three years, the EU remains Russia's biggest customer for both pipeline gas and LNG. In October, the EU bought 49% of all Russia's LNG exports and 40% of all its pipeline gas exports.
(Excerpt) Read more at dw.com ...
The WEF EU Globo Homos are laying the ground work for business as almost usual to return with Putin’s regime.
As it is said, crises always threaten America but always falls on Europe.
Their reported reductions in Russian energy imports correspond nicely with the closure of factories. US LNG is too expensive to manufacture, but okay for freezing Germans.... Oh wait but they are still getting the Russian fuel thru Turkey, China, Iran and India just to mention a few places who they buy from these days.
The German automotive industry has into remission, exports too weak to continue manufacturing most vehicles, and VW has 120K workers demanding higher wages at the very moment VW has gone from over 7M in 2021 to under 3.5M today. No body is buying their overpriced vehicles due the cost of US LNG.
$51.60/MW-Hr makes no sense. Dividing by 1000 gives 5 cents/KW-Hr. That is a third of the 15 cents/KW-Hr I am paying? What????
Those who believe the sanctions are doing harm to Russia’s economy fail to see the hypocrisy of WEF nations quietly buying Russian gas to this day.
Just like the rest of the Ukraine war, the sanctions are a show put on to make the uninformed think something serious is happening.
Meanwhile, the leaders of the WEF nations as well as Russia, China and Iran benefit from war profiteering off their own citizens’ tax dollars......and many of those citizens cannot see it.
Your numbers may be right. I would expect gas imports to a country to be significantly lower in cost than electrical service to your house.
It also puts some of the lie to the all-electric-home. Some uses of energy, like getting heat out of gas, are probably most efficiently accomplished directly.
“The cold weather has led to more heating being used”
Captain Obvious.
“The WEF EU Globo Homos are laying the ground work for business as almost usual to return with Putin’s regime.”
The WEF wants Russia conquered. What are you smoking?
Its nice and warm in Budapest, not so much in Brussels
Yes. Ja, Oui. Sí. Tak. Sim. Jā. .....
Not our problem.
the Europeans need to deal with their corrupt governments and demand reliable energy, and stop with the greenie nonsense.
Let them all freeze.
Screw Europe it’s self-inflected anyway
The increase in LNG prices in Europe has a direct correlation to the ELECTRICITY prices here in New England.
Let me explain. Eversource is the main electricity retailer here in NH, MA and parts of RI & CT.
There is only one nuclear plant left. Which produces about half the electricity for the state of NH.
The rest of the electricity is generated from hydro, burning trash, burning wood waste, wind, solar, and importing natural gas from Canada and other US locations. There are NOT enough pipelines coming to New England. The NIMBY effect has kept additional pipelines being built.
There is no natural gas east of New York state. So, the cheapest place to buy that additional Natural gas is in LNG from Texas. Shipped into Boston by boat. Those ships going from one US port to another US port have to abide by The Jones Act. Which makes the transport more expensive.
So, the additional LNG being brought to Boston could also be sold via ship to Europe or anywhere else. IF THEY ARE WILLING TO PAY MORE than Eversouce in Boston. So, IF the price in Europe goes UP, then the price delivered Boston and other ports goes up too.
The last time this happened everyone in NH, MA and other places saw their electricity and heating bills go up as much as 100%. IF they were not locked in a contract with a secondary Electric supplier. LIKE ME.
of course, the same people who were whining about their electric bills were the same people who were absolutely AGAINST the Kinder Morgan natural gas pipeline that was supposed to go about three miles south of my house.
This pipeline was proposed about four years ago.
Many of these same people were against the Northern Pass electrical transmission line that was proposed to go from the Quebec border through northern NH. It would have brought electricity from Hydro Quebec down to NH, ME, etc.
That proposal also got defeated because of the NIMBY effect.
The good news is they are building the transmission line through Maine. Across land that is mostly owned by JD Irving and other large forestry owners.
In a way it is. We are competing to buy the same LNG that could also go to Europe. See my previous post.
Thank you for the detailed reply!
It’s funny that I was just looking up the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant, the other day, and saw the owner that you mention. I lived in Maine for a number of years in my childhood, and remember Seabrook being fought by these lunatics calling themselves the “Clamshell Alliance”. I thought that they prevailed and Seabrook was never built, but I see that a single plant was completed and the other scrapped. The house we lived in was all-electric with thermostats in every room. My parents must have loved the monthly bill!
I am sure that your description of LNG sale is correct. I am also fairly certain that liquifying natural gas and shipping it is nowhere near the cost effectiveness of a pipeline.
America’s idiotic ideas about energy are up against laws of nature.
There is another potential factor the DW article leaves out. Transport capacity (volume) of LNG is limited by the number of ships and the distance they have to travel. The Houthis have transformed the short ME to Europe hop to a long trip around Africa, so transport capacity decreases by the inverse of the increase in transport time. If the situation in Europe really gets dire, the “Houthi problem” will have to be dealt with, but in the meantime prices for gas in Europe could absolutely go through the roof..
The problem is, it’s a global market. See post 16.
Yes, the US should vastly increase supply, but even in the best circumstance, that takes time.
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