- Several countries have cut off energy ties with Russia, while others are buying cheap supplies.
- The United States, the United Kingdom and some EU countries have taken action.
- However, India and China continue to maintain oil and gas trade with Russia.
Loading Something is loading.
The divided approach to Russia’s energy trade has become more apparent in recent weeks.
While some nations have considered or announced bans on Russian oil and gas imports, others are doubling.
When Russia launched an unprecedented attack on Ukraine earlier this year, Western nations joined forces to impose sanctions on the country in an attempt to punish Russia for its actions.
Penalties range from blocking some Russian banks’ access to the global SWIFT banking system to the EU and other European countries, banning Russian flights from their airspace.
As the war continues, the countries are now imposing sanctions on Russia’s energy sector, which has the world’s largest natural gas reserves and is the world’s third-largest oil producer, accounting for about 12 percent of world oil production.
This is how some countries are struggling with Russia’s energy problems.
Italy is easing its dependence on Russian gas by turning to countries such as Egypt and Algeria for its energy supplies.
Eni, the Italian oil and gas giant, recently signed a framework agreement with the Egyptian state-owned natural gas holding company (EGAS), which he said will help maximize gas production and liquefied natural gas exports.
According to Reuters, Italy supplies about 40% of its gas imports from Russia. He also agreed to increase gas imports from Algeria by about 40% amid the war.
This month, the Baltic states, including Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, cut Russian gas imports.
“As of April 1, Russian natural gas is no longer supplied to Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania,” Uldis Baris, CEO of Conexus Baltic Grid, the Latvian natural gas storage operator, told Al Jazeera.
Lithuania became the first European country to abandon Russian energy supplies after the war in Ukraine. “If we can do it, the rest of Europe can do it too!” This was stated by President Gitanas Nauseda on Twitter.
Outside Europe, the United States has also banned Russian oil and gas imports. President Joe Biden announced a “powerful blow” against Russian President Vladimir Putin last month.
“This is a step we are taking to inflict further pain on Putin, but there will be costs here in the United States,” Biden said. “I will do my best to minimize the rise in Putin’s prices here at home.”
US consumers are feeling the effects of rising gas prices as a result of pandemic-era inflation, combined with new sanctions on Russian energy supplies. In March, the average price of gas in the United States per gallon jumped above $ 4 for the first time since 2008.
The UK government recently announced measures against Russian energy supplies, promising to suspend all imports of Russian coal and oil by the end of 2022.
“By the end of 2022, the United Kingdom will end all dependence on Russian coal and oil and stop importing gas as soon as possible,” the government said.
It added that the United Kingdom would also ban the export of key oil refining equipment and catalysts, “impairing Russia’s ability to produce and export oil”.
Additional sanctions include measures against Alexander Dyukov, chief executive of Russia’s third-largest and majority state oil producer, Gazprom Neft.
The country is facing growing pressure to withdraw from Russian energy, although it has relied heavily on it, especially on natural gas passing through the Nord Stream gas pipeline network.
However, severing ties with Russia could be a long process.
Cutting off Russian gas from the German economy would significantly affect its manufacturing industry and could lead to rationing schemes, Insider’s Ben Wink said.
Per Bloomberg, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, said: “We are working hard to become independent of the need to import gas from Russia. This, as you can imagine, is not so easy because it needs infrastructure that needs to be built first. “
Against the backdrop of a wave of countries cutting Russia’s energy supplies, India and China have taken a different approach.
As large-scale sanctions hit Russia’s oil exports, prices fell so much that some buyers from India and China were drawn to buy cheap Russian energy, Insider’s Huileng Tan said.
Reuters reports that India has bought at least 13 million barrels of Russian oil since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, it does not stop at cheap oil. Russian coal remains on India’s radar.
Ramchandra Prasad Singh, an Indian politician and member of parliament, told a conference in New Delhi that India was “moving towards importing coking coal from Russia”, according to Reuters. He added that India had imported 4.5 million tonnes of Russian coal, but did not specify how long.
As for China, the country is grabbing Russian oil and coal with its own currency. China’s smaller independent refineries are also still discreetly buying Russian oil, Reuters reported recently.
Add Comment