Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened to shut down his gas pipeline, which supplies over half of Europe’s gas, if there is a boycott of Russian fossil fuels, despite warnings that this would send oil prices above $300 per barrel, allowing him even more money to spend on his ruthless Ukraine campaign.
The West has so far imposed a series of economic sanctions against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine but had not yet targeted oil or gas. After the US pressed its European allies to consider blocking Russian oil imports over its invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has fueled fears of an energy war by threatening to shut down a major gas pipeline to Germany.
In a statement on Monday, Alexander Novak, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister revealed that rejecting Russian oil could lead to catastrophic consequences for the world market. Russia was fully complying with its responsibilities, but it would be absolutely within its rights to react against the European Union after Germany blocked the certification for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline last month, he said.
On Monday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pushed back against the idea of prohibiting Russian oil and gas imports, saying that such a step would jeopardize Europe’s energy safety and that imports from Russia were vital to Europeans’ daily life.
Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, appeared to ally himself with Germany’s Scholz in backing away from proposals to put an oil embargo on Russia during a press conference on Monday.
There are increasing calls for the United Kingdom to increase North Sea production, while Germany is being pressed to open up its historic gas resources. Despite Europe’s net-zero goals, experts believe that countries should increase nuclear output and explore depending more on coal-fired power plants in the short run.
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said that reducing Russian oil and gas imports will be a “step-by-step procedure.”
According to the International Energy Agency, Europe could cut Russian gas imports by more than half in a year, but this would necessitate a slew of quick actions, ranging from replacing gas boilers with heat pumps to dramatically increasing LNG imports.
EU leaders may agree at a summit this week to phase out the bloc’s reliance on Russian fossil fuel imports without setting a deadline, reports said. However, countries are split on whether or not to put immediate sanctions on Russia’s energy supplies. The notion has been rejected by Germany, the world’s largest customer of Russian crude oil.
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