- Dec 29, 2008
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Vladimir Putin has gambled away his gas leverage over Europe, Germany’s vice-chancellor has claimed as he sounded a note of cautious optimism over his country’s energy supplies during a visit to Norway.
Russia’s war in Ukraine had caught Berlin at a vulnerable moment since it was over-reliant on natural gas deliveries through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline and had failed to build up infrastructure for alternative supply channels, said Robert Habeck, the German deputy head of government and economic minister.
“The German problem, or the central European problem, was that half of our eggs were in the basket of Putin,” the Green politician said at a joint press conference with the Norwegian prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, in Oslo. “And he destroyed them.”
At the start of 2023, however, Germany was “one-third done” being able to replace ceased Russian deliveries of gas, oil and coal through other channels, such as speedily built liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and an increase of imports from Norway, now Europe’s largest supplier of gas.
Norway’s energy minister, Terje Aasland, announced on Thursday that Oslo would again be able to deliver 122bn cubic metres of natural gas to Europe this year, up 8% from deliveries in 2021.
While emphasising that Germany’s energy situation remained “very very tight and complicated”, Habeck sounded a note of optimism. “Right now, I can say the storages in Germany are full, around 90%, we will withstand this winter, and the prices are going down.”
With central Europe enjoying a relatively mild winter so far, he said, there was a “fair chance” its storage tanks would not be completely empty at the end of the cold season.
So much for Putin's great gas threat. Even Mother Nature is supporting Ukraine by giving Europe a warm winter.
Russia’s war in Ukraine had caught Berlin at a vulnerable moment since it was over-reliant on natural gas deliveries through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline and had failed to build up infrastructure for alternative supply channels, said Robert Habeck, the German deputy head of government and economic minister.
“The German problem, or the central European problem, was that half of our eggs were in the basket of Putin,” the Green politician said at a joint press conference with the Norwegian prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, in Oslo. “And he destroyed them.”
At the start of 2023, however, Germany was “one-third done” being able to replace ceased Russian deliveries of gas, oil and coal through other channels, such as speedily built liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals and an increase of imports from Norway, now Europe’s largest supplier of gas.
Norway’s energy minister, Terje Aasland, announced on Thursday that Oslo would again be able to deliver 122bn cubic metres of natural gas to Europe this year, up 8% from deliveries in 2021.
While emphasising that Germany’s energy situation remained “very very tight and complicated”, Habeck sounded a note of optimism. “Right now, I can say the storages in Germany are full, around 90%, we will withstand this winter, and the prices are going down.”
With central Europe enjoying a relatively mild winter so far, he said, there was a “fair chance” its storage tanks would not be completely empty at the end of the cold season.
So much for Putin's great gas threat. Even Mother Nature is supporting Ukraine by giving Europe a warm winter.
They are very brave to help the majority of the former EU survive Russi's unkind and arrogant removal of heating homes for their neighbors for their attitude that Putin is a rinse, repeat version of the cruel Nazis of WWII. ☹
