Free Republic

Margrethe Vestager, vice president of the European Commission, further urged EU citizens to take shorter showers. "When you turn off the water, say 'Take that, Putin!'” she said last week, referring to President Vladimir Putin of Russia.

Those taking the German government to task over the ongoing gas crisis have been branded the “new enemies of the state” by one government minister in the country. An ostensibly “centrist” minister in Germany has branded those looking to hold officials accountable for their chronic mismanagement of the country as the “new enemies of the state”. The minister — who is a member of former chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party — made the claim as authorities in the country begin to fear significant backlash for gas shortages in the winter, with one official saying that he is...

Now there's a growing sense that Europe might not only meet its gas targets but also exceed them... Injections to Europe’s gas storage are running about nine weeks ahead of last year... European gas storage levels are above 70%, and have even surpassed the 5-year average. By November 1st, the EU will likely hit 80% natural gas storage capacity (its goal) – in time for peak winter demand. Germany is even aiming for 95% capacity, and is already at 75%... Indeed, analysts at Standard Chartered Plc are saying that President Vladimir Putin’s gas weapon will be effectively blunted by the...

Vladimir Putin has waged an energy war on Europe. The general running his campaign is ultra-loyalist and Gazprom PJSC boss Alexei Miller. ... Handicapping Gazprom is Mr. Miller’s decision over the past decade not to enter the market for liquefied-natural gas—a choice that left Gazprom, unlike Russian rival Novatek JSC, near totally reliant on pipelines to export fuel. Gazprom has limited options in the short term to redirect its gas to China and other buyers given its traditionally westward-facing infrastructure. One pipeline to China opened in 2019, but it can’t handle much gas. A second is under negotiation but won’t...

Hanover first big city to ban hot water and central heating in public buildings.. Lights to be switched off at night on major buildings like museums and town hall .. Germans told to expect higher electricity bills and sweeping gas rationing.. Move is a response to Vladimir Putin's gas squeeze which has Europe panicking.. Russian state energy giant Gazprom cut gas supplies to Germany to 20 per cent . ... The Germany city of Hanover has become the first big city in Europe to ban hot water and central heating in public buildings ... The drastic step comes as Germans...

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia tightened its gas squeeze on Europe on Monday as Gazprom said supplies through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany would drop to just 20% of capacity. Gazprom said flows would fall to 33 million cubic metres per day from 0400 GMT on Wednesday - a halving of the current, already reduced level - because it needed to halt the operation of a Siemens gas turbine at a compressor station on instructions from an industry watchdog. Germany said it saw no technical reason for the latest reduction, which comes as Russia and the West exchange economic blows...

Russia's Gazprom (GAZP.MM) has declared force majeure on gas supplies to Europe to at least one major customer, according to the letter from Gazprom dated July 14 and seen by Reuters on Monday. The letter said Gazprom, which has a monopoly on Russian gas exports by pipeline, could not fulfil its supply obligations owing to "extraordinary" circumstances outside its control. It said the force majeure measure, a clause invoked when a business is hit by something beyond its control, was effective from deliveries starting from June 14.

With energy prices putting the squeeze on household budgets throughout the country, the Biden Administration announced plans in April to tap the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to lower gas prices. At the time, a Department of Energy news release said this action would “address the pain Americans are feeling at the pump as a result of Putin’s Price Hike and to help lower energy costs. That includes President [Joe] Biden authorizing the release of 1 million barrels per day from the SPR for the next six months.” As the amount of oil in the SPR has fallen to its lowest...

Russia’s energy giant Gazprom on Thursday lost more than a quarter of its market value after the state-owned company decided not to pay out dividends. “The shareholders have resolved that in the current situation it is not opportune to pay out dividends based on the results of 2021,” Famil Sadygov, deputy chairman of Gazprom, said in a statement. “At the moment, Gazprom prioritizes the implementation of its investment program, including gas infrastructure expansion in the regions of the Russian Federation, and the preparations for the coming winter period. In addition, we undoubtedly must be ready to meet our obligations to...

Gazprom in mid-June announced gas flows from Russia to Germany through the key pipeline Nord Stream would be reduced by about 40 percent, arguing that German engineering company Siemens had failed to provide the equipment needed to carry out repairs. Production cuts due to gas shortages could disproportionately affect producers of energy-intensive basic materials like chemicals, steel, fertilizers or glass. Some industrial installations would be permanently damaged if they have to be turned off for an extended period of time. Company leaders have therefore warned against “dramatic” consequences of a domino effect in supply chains that could set in if...

Russian gas giant Gazprom has announced a 40% reduction in natural gas deliveries to Europe via the Nord Stream pipeline, blaming German engineering giant Siemens for failing to return key turbines “on time”. The Nord Stream pipeline running across the Baltic Sea to Germany is the largest remaining route for carrying Russian gas to Europe, as volumes being sent via the Ukraine transit pipeline network have been reduced greatly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February. The reduction in Nord Stream flows comes less than a month before operations are scheduled to halt completely on 11 July for the pipeline’s...

Russia cut its gas supply to top Dutch trader GasTerra on Tuesday, escalating the economic battle between Moscow and Brussels and pushing up European gas prices. The move comes a day after Denmark flagged a potential end to its Russian gas supply and the European Union's toughest measure yet against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, an agreement to halt sea-borne imports of its oil. GasTerra, which buys and trades gas on behalf of the Dutch government, said it had contracted elsewhere for the 2 billion cubic metres of gas it had expected to receive from Gazprom through October. "This...

The desolation of U.S. energy security has bolstered Vladimir Putin’s dangerous geopolitical aims.Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is illuminating an ugly truth: the anti-fracking war on America’s energy security is being waged by well-funded, radical U.S. environmental groups, as well as interests tied directly to Vladimir Putin. For years, the U.S. government has investigated Russian financial ties to environmental groups that push for ending U.S. fossil fuel production and have successfully shut down fracking sites and pipelines, to the detriment of U.S. workers and consumers. Who benefits? Putin, because the desolation of U.S. energy security has bolstered state-owned Gazprom and his...

Spanish officials are investigating the mysterious deaths of a Russian gas executive, who was found hanged outside his Spanish villa, and his wife and daughter who were both discovered hacked to death inside the property. Investigators are said to be working on the assumption that Sergey Protosenya, 55, killed the two women with an axe and knife, before taking his own life in the courtyard of his Lloret de Mar villa on Spain's Costa Brava. However, local reports said evidence does not conclusively point towards this explanation, as no suicide note was found in the property and it appeared steps...

KYIV/LONDON, May 10 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Tuesday it would suspend the flow of gas through a transit point which it said delivers almost a third of the fuel piped from Russia to Europe through Ukraine, blaming Moscow for the move and saying it would move the flows elsewhere. Ukraine has remained a major transit route for Russian gas to Europe even after Moscow's invasion. GTSOU, which operates Ukraine's gas system, said it would stop shipments via the Sokhranivka route from Wednesday, declaring "force majeure", a clause invoked when a business is hit by something beyond its control. But...

Hunter Biden flew to Moscow for a meeting with a now-sanctioned Russian oligarch with reportedly close ties to Vladimir Putin, laptop files reveal. Vladimir Yevtushenkov, 73, owns a company which reportedly supplied Putin's forces with drones used for deadly bombing raids in Ukraine and until last year owned key Russian defense contractor RTI. But while he was added to the UK and Australian sanctions lists this month but remains one of a handful of oligarchs unsanctioned by the Biden administration. Hunter's multiple meetings and apparent business deals with him are the latest in a troubling web of his connections to...

Russian gas giant Gazprom has not booked any gas transit capacity via the Yamal-Europe pipeline for the third quarter, Interfax news agency reported on Monday, citing the latest auction results on the GSA Platform.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement on Wednesday. She said they were continuing to work with international partners to get access to alternative sources of natural gas and noted that a “coordinated EU response” was in the process of being crafted. The development comes as Gazprom alleged in a memo that Poland and Bulgaria were refusing to use Russian rubles to pay for natural gas, as Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded, consequently forcing Gazprom to shut off access of fuel to the two countries, The U.S. and others are seeking to isolate Russia economically...

WARSAW, April 26 (Reuters) - Russian energy giant Gazprom (GAZP.MM) told Poland's PGNiG (PGN.WA) it will halt gas supplies along the Yamal pipeline from Wednesday morning, PGNiG said in a statement, although the Polish government said it had sufficient reserves........Poland's contract with Gazprom is for 10.2 billion cubic meters per year, and covers about 50% of national consumption.......Poland can replace the 10 BCM of gas by early next year, see below

Moscow previously issued a new decree requiring "unfriendly states" to pay for Russian gas in rubles. Kremlin includes all countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia "unfriendly". European companies will be able to pay for the Russian gas while meeting Moscow's demands to do so in rubles without violating EU sanctions at the same time. The scheme proposed by the European Commission suggests that companies will wire their payments in euros or dollars to a bank account in Russia, where the currency will be converted into rubles. Brussels' memo said that the European firms' obligations will be complete once the...