As most of us know, the rapid rise in gas prices is due to Russia's main pipeline to Europe being found full of contaminated oil. The losses are staggering..as is the idea that no-one yet knows exactly what happened:
How Russia contaminated $2.7 billion in oil exports to Europe
"For the next 10 days, refiners and oil firms in Europe cut purchases of Russian oil by up to a million barrels a day, or 10 percent of European oil imports, in a major disruption to supply from the world's second largest oil exporter.
The disruption sent oil to a six-month high above $75 a barrel, tarnished Russia's reputation as an exporter at a time of rising competition with U.S. oil sales and triggered a Russian probe into whether the pipeline had been sabotaged.
As the crisis entered its 11th day Tuesday, oil buyers had yet to hear directly from Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft, the owner of the network that exported the tainted oil, 10 sources at Western oil firms and trading houses said.
"I have to rely on gossip and rumour to get an idea when clean oil will resume flowing," said a trading manager at a Western oil company that had to suspend purchases of Russian oil in Germany, which is connected to Druzhba via Poland.
Transneft, the world's largest pipeline company run by Nikolai Tokarev, declined to comment."
How Russia contaminated $2.7 billion in oil exports to Europe
"For the next 10 days, refiners and oil firms in Europe cut purchases of Russian oil by up to a million barrels a day, or 10 percent of European oil imports, in a major disruption to supply from the world's second largest oil exporter.
The disruption sent oil to a six-month high above $75 a barrel, tarnished Russia's reputation as an exporter at a time of rising competition with U.S. oil sales and triggered a Russian probe into whether the pipeline had been sabotaged.
As the crisis entered its 11th day Tuesday, oil buyers had yet to hear directly from Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft, the owner of the network that exported the tainted oil, 10 sources at Western oil firms and trading houses said.
"I have to rely on gossip and rumour to get an idea when clean oil will resume flowing," said a trading manager at a Western oil company that had to suspend purchases of Russian oil in Germany, which is connected to Druzhba via Poland.
Transneft, the world's largest pipeline company run by Nikolai Tokarev, declined to comment."
