On 24 October, I was honored to moderate a great roundtable in Berlin with three European energy experts, sponsored by Der Divan Kulturehaus. SUGGESTION: While listening, open up that speaker’s file below. You’ll find Ben Aris’ data-slides on Russian price-cap failings, Andriy Kobolyev’s proposal to tax Moscow’s oil & Morten Frisch’s slides on EU renewable shortcomings & continued oil and gas needs.
Continue readingPosted in Berlin, Climate Change, Ehergiewende, Energiewende, Energy and Environment, Energy and Geopolitics, Energy and Geostrategy, Energy crisis, energy war, EU gas, Euroepen Union, gas crisis, gazprom, geopolitics, Nord Stream 2, Oil supply, Putin, Renewables, Renewables, Resource conflicts, Russia, Sanctions, Ukraine, Ukraine, Uncategorized
Tagged Energy, Energy crisis, energy prices, gas crisis, geopolitics, Germany, oil price cap, Renewables, Russia, Sanctions, Ukraine, Ukraine war, USA
Dear readers: I have so many interviews on the present energy-and-war crisis that I cannot post them all here. Here are two recent ones.
Some comments on the DW interveiw above:
I spoke with DW.de Business show host Daniel Winter about the OPEC decision today, which some decried, and the EU plans to put a price cap on natural gaas – Russian and otherwise. You might find my take on the OPEC decision surprising?
Continue readingAl Jazeera asked me how will the cut in gas to Latvia effect that country and other Baltic states?
I said they are much better prepared than Germany, for example. The Baltic states of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, as well as Poland, had no illusions about Putin’s Russia eventually weaponizing the EU’s dependence on Russian gas as it is now during the Ukraine war.
Lithuania has a gas import floating terminal and also supplies non-Russian imports to its neighbors, including Poland. Poland also has an LNG import terminal, and is now completing a new non-RUssian-gas pipeline form Norway to Poland.
They are in a much better place, prepared much better than Germany in the event of a complete cut off of Russian imports.
Al Jazeera also asked about the cut in Nord Stream 1 supplies to (and through) Germany to only 20%. I said this will have a heavy effect on Germany and other EU states this winter. Germany will not be able now to fill storage for winter.
We discussed other aspects of this in the brief, 4.5 minute interview on the nightly news show.
The title tells most of it. I explain why I think Putin is playing with gas, not oil and the EU and German vulnerabilities.
Now, German storage will not be able to be filled to the ministry’s target level of 95% by November, according to the Federal Transmission System chief, Mr. Klaus Muller – in fact, even if NS1 were still flowing at 40%.
Not only that, although Energy Minister Habeck has agreed to bring back online all the coal power plants possible, in fact Germany has a poorly thought-out over dependence on wind and it simply is not blowing much this summer. So, in actuality, we are burning more gas now to produce electricity than last year – a complete waste of gas. Also, the Rhine is low and coal barges are having difficulty delivering coal to power plants.
Continue readingPosted in Uncategorized
Tagged dw.de, gas crisis, Germany, Interview, Nord Stream, Putin, Ukraine war
We discuss the excuses Putin is giving for cutting Nord Stream 1 flows now from 40% to only 20%. I asserted that they are nonsense. (Various links are below, under Read More.)
This pipeline has been in service since 2011 and there has never been a cut back of flow due to a defective or poorly maintained compressor, and now Russia is claiming a second one is in disrepair. Putin, in Tehran, last week warned he would do this and also said that Ukraine refusing to transit Russian gas through territory Russia has forcibly occupied is another reason he might cut Nord Stream 1 flows. So, this is clearly political, not technical.
This will mean, according to comments recently by Klaus Mueller – head of the German Federal Gas Transit Agency, that it will be impossible to fill German storage to the 95% level the minister has ordered — Mueller had said this was the case even at the former 40% flows of NS1.
I explained the reason Putin is playing this game with gas deliveries – because natural gas brings his regime far less revenues than the all-important business of Russian oil exports, while at the same time natural gas is much harder now for Europe to replace for some years hence from other sources – as it arrives mostly via pipelines from Russia, not by sea like most oil. So, gas is Putin’s greatest lever for now in the energy front of the economic war being waged in support of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
Continue readingPosted in Uncategorized
Tagged gas crisis, Germany, Nord Stream, Putin, Russia, Ukraine war
Euronews Now host, Mariam Zaidi, interviews me Thursday AM, 21 July, about the meaning of Nord Stream 1 coming back online (albeit by a mere 40%), and why the EU has to prepare for a complet cutoff of Russian natural gas this winter.
In two or so years, the EU will be completly free of dependence on Putin’s gas; and he knows it. So, Putin has two years to use it – as a weapon – or lose it. We have to be ready. Filling storage is not sufficient. There would be gas rationing and cutoffs.
Continue readingPosted in Uncategorized
Tagged Energy, gas crisis, geopolitics, Germany, nordstream, rationing, Russia, Ukraine
19 July 2020. I was interviewed by Al Jazeera (Arabic here; English audio is at GlobalBarrel[dot]com) about the strong possibility that Gazprom might not turn Nord Stream 1 back on this Thursday, or might soon thereafter cut its flows to Germany and Europe.
This would mean a severe EU gas crisis this winter.
We discussed what the EU plans to do to prepare? The key will be solidarity in sharing sparce gas between Member states and, within Member states it will depend on rationins and conservation, including closing of less-critical businesses when necessary. How effective will these measures be?
Continue readingJun 17, 2022 Today, Gazprom announced a further cut in exports of gas via Nord Stream 1 to Germany and on into Europe. Earlier this week, they had cut 40%, now it is 60% of the 55 billion cubic meters per year (bcm) that normally flows in this pipe.
I explained that the Gazprom excuse – -that it could not re-import some compressor parts it had sent to Siemens to repair in Canada due to sanctions — appears as a convenient, manufactured excuse.
I pointed out that a one-off sanctions waiver from the USA, EU and/or Canada for the reimportation of these very specific parts could likely be easily arranged – and if the gas did not again flow fully, Gazprom’s ruse would be clearly exposed.
However, as I said, this is more accurately understood as simply another step in the weaponization of the over-dependence of the European Union (and esp. of Germany, Austria and Italy) on Russian gas imports, a game which Mr. Putin began in earnest in August of 2021.
Continue readingPosted in Energy and Geopolitics, EU gas, European Union, gas crisis, Gazprom, gazprom, geopolitics, Germany, Interview, LNG, Nord Stream, Nord Stream 2, Putin, Russia, Sanctions, Ukraine, Uncategorized
Tagged al jazeera, Energy, gas, gas crisis, Gazprom, geopolitics, Germany, LNG, Nord Stream, Nord Stream 2, rationing, Russia, Sanctions, Ukraine
I told Al Jazeera that Finland is well prepared, having worked since 2017 with Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – the Baltic states – and with Poland to connect them all together with new pipelines, also to access LNG, storage and soon, new supplies from Norway.
Finland has also rented a regasification ship, from a US firm, to receive 5 billion cubic meters per year of LNG, whch will be plenty to supply both itself and Estonia in the wake of Putin cutting off Gazprom supplies of natural gas. Finland refuses, as did Poland too, to pay Moscow in rubles and so are being punished by Putin.
Continue readingPosted in Baltic States, Energy and Geopolitics, Estonia, EU gas, European Union, Finland, gas, gas crisis, Gazprom, gazprom, geopolitics, Germany, LNG, Nord Stream, Nord Stream 2, Poland, Putin, Russia, Sanctions, shale gas, The USA, Three Seas, Ukraine, Uncategorized
Tagged al jazeera, Baltic States, Energy, Energy and Geopolitics, Estonia, European Union, Finalns, gas crisis, Gazprom, geopolitics, Russia, Sanctions, United States
IE: Inside Europe, 2/25/2022 From: DW – Deutsche Welle Series: Inside Europe: News and Current Affairs ~ Weekly from DW
This week on the show: Russia-Ukraine war. UK sanctions on Russia. Russia gas. The mood in Russia. How ordinary people are struggling to get by…
Continue readingPosted in Energy and Geopolitics, EU gas, Euroepen Union, gas crisis, gazprom, Germany, Uncategorized
Tagged Energy, gas crisis, geopolitics, Germany, natural gas, Nord Stream 2, oil sector, Russia, Ukraine, United States
Strait Talk with host Aisha-Aura Sbadus @suberker in Istanbul. My co-panelist was Tom Marzec-Manser @tmarzecmanser Head of Gas Analytics at @ICISOfficial
We discussed scenarios for how the EU energy crisis might go in a new Russian war against Ukraine, and the significance of USA President Biden designating Qatar as a “major non-NATO ally.”
In particular, we discussed how much could Qatari LNG be made available and what its impact would be alongside the massive US LNG deliveries so far this year.
Continue readingPosted in Energy and Geopolitics, EU gas, Euroepen Union, gas crisis, gazprom, geopolitics, Germany, Uncategorized
Tagged Energy, gas crisis, geopolitics, Germany, Russia, Ukraine, United States
26.01.2022. Experts Wahid Machram, market analyst in Dubai; Samuel Ramadi at Oxford University, UK. and TRT Roundtable host David Foster in London made important points. Here’s a key assessment I made.:
There is a new and growing asymmetry between the European Union and Russia in energy supplies – one increasingly favoring Moscow.
Europe has opened itself to energy blackmail. The present winter 2021-22 gas shortage and skyrocketing prices are only one part. There is also the real possibility of Putin cutting off the pipeline gas he is still supplying in the event that Europe, esp. Germany, opposes any Russian invasion of Ukraine.
About the new EU-Russia growing energy asymmetry:
Posted in Berlin, Ehergiewende, Energiewende, Energy and Geopolitics, Energy and Geostrategy, Environment, EU gas, Euroepen Union, gas crisis, gazprom, geopolitics, German Green Party, Germany, NATO, Nord Stream, Nord Stream 2, Nuclear power, Russia, The USA, Three Seas, Ukraine, Uncategorized
Tagged Biden, Energy, Energy crisis, gas crisis, Gazprom, Germany, moscow, Nord Stream, Russia, Ukraine, United States
Here is my talk [English & Ukrainian videos] for the Ukraine Energy Security Dialogue of 01.12.21, via Zoom, organized by Kyiv’s Dixie Group. Program & Speakers are below.
I outlined failures of the legal and political models Russia’s Gazprom has embraced to eventually bring the Nord Stream 2 pipeline into operation under the anti-monopoly provisions of the EU’s Third Energy Package law..
Critical observers have understandably interpreted the public optimism and “gas-Godfather”-like posturing of Kremlin and Gazprom officials as evidence of self-confidence, even arrogance. In contrast, here I outlined what actually amounts to a history of repeated failures of Nord Stream 2 AG strategies.
I termed its first two failed strategies as “Plan A” and “Plan B,” and the current one as “Plan C.”
Continue readingPosted in Ehergiewende, Energiewende, Energy and Geopolitics, EU gas, Euroepen Union, gas crisis, geopolitics, German Green Party, Germany, hydrogen, Naftogaz, Nord Stream 2, Renewables, Ukraine, Uncategorized
Tagged certification, dixie group kyiv, Energy, gas crisis, Gazprom, geopolitics, Germany, Naftogaz, Nord Stream 2, Russia, Sanctions
Here’s my extended interview in Kyiv with two great Kosatka.Media journalists [Read in UA, RU]
18 NOVEMBER 2021 — AUTHOR YAROSLAV MARKIN, TETIANA HUZENKO In 2021, the energy sector of Ukraine faced myriad threats related to the completion of Nord Stream 2, increasing gas prices and coal shortage just before the heating season. At the same time, green trends require decarbonizing the industry and developing the hydrogen direction.
Kosatka.Media discussed what direction is better for Ukraine, whether it should wait for the protection against Nord Stream 2, and where global green trends could take us, with Dr. Thomas W. O’Donnell, international expert and senior energy and geopolitics analyst at GlobalBarrel.com, who participated in the Ukraine Gas Investment Congress held in late October in Kyiv.
In the long run, we want to have a world that’s not dependent on hydrocarbons. The worst hydrocarbon is lignite and brown coal. And that’s what people s\should concentrate on eliminating. Natural gas in fact is a great way to eliminate coal.
It’s actually an improvement for Ukraine, not only because of global warming, because of CO2, but also for the health of the people since natural gas does not produce environmental pollution. So, increasing the use of natural gas (or also nuclear energy) in a country like Ukraine is to the benefit of the environment and to the people’s health.
However, Ukraine is not a typical European country, it is a country that unfortunately is at war. In such a situation, it has found an intelligent way to access natural gas, which is virtual reverse flow.
Continue readingPosted in Climate Change, Energiewende, Energy and Environment, Energy and Geopolitics, Energy and Geostrategy, Environment, EU gas, Euroepen Union, gas crisis, Gazprom, gazprom, geopolitics, hydrogen, Nord Stream, Nord Stream 2, Nuclear power, Oil prices, Resource conflicts, Russia, Ukraine, Uncategorized
Tagged Energy, gas crisis, Gazprom, hydrogen, Naftogaz, Nord Stream, Nord Stream 2, nuclear enery, Nuclear power, Putin, Russia, Ukraine
The Global Barrel 