Russia's military on Sunday, February 27, hit an oil depot in Kyiv, and one of the critical gas pipelines in Kharkiv in a massive explosion took over the usually quiet city south of Kyiv. The Ukrainian government urged its residents to hunker down in homes, subway stations, and underground garages to protect themselves from the smoke following the strike.
Germany, Europe's largest consumer of Russian natural gas on Sunday, February 27, made a U-turn on the country's long-held energy policies, hinting at a possibility of running coal and nuclear plants for longer than initially planned.
In the event of war in the Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions on the Russian economy and its leaders by the United States and its NATO allies, et al., Russia would be ready to re-route gas supplies to other markets, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said this past week.
Russia has agreed to a 30-year contract to supply gas to China via Power of Siberia 2, a new 2600-km pipeline originating in the Bovanenkovo and Kharasavey gas fields in Yamal, bolstering an energy alliance with Beijing amid Moscow's strained ties with the West over Ukraine and other issues.
With the prospect of war looming over the European continent, the US Government has begun asking Eni, TotalEnergies and other energy companies operating in Algeria to see if more gas can be sourced from the country, sources familiar with the matter said.
Azerbaijan`s Minister of Energy, Parviz Shahbazov, and European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson, have issued a joint press statement reaffirming their commitment to a strategic energy partnership between the European Union and Azerbaijan.
Jan Lipavsky, the Czech Foreign Minister, said yesterday that Russian President Vladimir Putin gave Europe a great Christmas gift this past year as the ongoing gas crisis showed that alternatives exist.
At the beginning of this month the United States withdrew its support for the EastMed gas pipeline, a major developmental pipeline project that would have connected significant gas deposits in the territorial waters of Cyprus, Egypt and Israel to markets in Europe. Ultimately the EastMed would have integrated these countries electricity grids with those of Europe.
Tanzania and Uganda signed a deal with French and Chinese oil firms last week, finalizing a $10 billion pipeline and drilling project. While the project supporters say the pipeline project will boost the two countries economic growth, Ugandan activists said the complaints from the families affected by the government's project hadn't been taken into consideration.
Speaking with unusual bluntness, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said at EU headquarters in Brussels that the launch of Nord Stream 2 depends on whether Russia invades Ukraine.
Natural gas flows from Russia to Germany via the Yamal pipeline came to a halt on Wednesday, data from the German network operator Gascade showed, dashing expectations it was about to pump gas west for the first time since December.
Gas through the Yamal pipeline, which typically flows west into Germany, has been in reverse mode, flowing east to Poland, since Dec. 21.
Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is on hold as the European Commission is looking into the pipeline's compliance with Europe's energy policy, European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said on Monday, January 31, 2022.
The emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani is expected to discuss the possibilities of Qatar supplying a short-term emergency liquid gas to Europe with the US President, Joe Biden, on Monday, January 31, 2022, to cover any shortages should Russia stop supplying gas to Germany.
Every few years one sees the name and thought of Carl von Clausewitz, the famous Prussian strategist, dug out of the historical archives when geopolitical tensions and the threat of war are cresting.
Pipeline infrastructure companies completed 14 liquid pipeline projects in the United States last year, an updated Liquids Pipeline Projects Database from the US Energy Information Administration (EIA) shows. Seven of the 14 projects are for crude oil pipelines, while the other seven are for hydrocarbon gas liquids.
