From August 2022 to January 2023, gas consumption in Europe fell by 19% compared to the average for the same period of the last five years. Against this background, the revenue of the Russian Federation from the sale of energy resources is falling sharply.
The European Union is no longer dependent on Russian oil and gas. Thus, 80% of “blue fuel” exports from the Russian Federation were completely replaced by supplies from the USA and Norway. This was expressed by the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen.
It was noted that 8-month exports of Russian gas to Europe decreased by 80 percent.
“Of course, good friends like the USA and Norway helped us by supporting us by supplying liquefied and piped gas,” said Ursula von der Leyen.
According to Eurostat, from August 2022 to January 2023, gas consumption in Europe decreased by 19% compared to the average for the same period of the last five years. And some European countries have reduced their gas consumption by 40-50%. For example:
- Finland – 57.3%;
- Lithuania – 47.9%;
- Sweden – 40.2%.
It is worth noting that Russia still has the opportunity to sell its energy resources to third countries, although the income from such sales is limited, since the aggressor country had to do this at a significant discount for each barrel.
Meanwhile, Russia’s oil and gas revenues have fallen 38% this year as ceiling prices and Western sanctions curtail trade in Moscow’s most lucrative exports. In January, revenue from the sale of these energy products totaled $18.5 billion, compared with $30 billion in the same period 2022.
Thus, according to Reuters, Russian Urals oil is sold at a large discount according to the Brent brand, following restrictions from 27 countries in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine, as well as oil restrictions of $ 60 per barrel imposed by the G7 countries.
In addition, the Russian Federation was forced to sell international reserves in order to close the deficit that arose on the backdrop of expenditures due to the occupation of Ukraine. Moscow received a total of $154.68 billion from oil and gas exports in 2022.
Recall that Germany previously refused to cooperate with Russia in the energy sector. As Chancellor Olaf Scholz noted, the country refused to buy gas, oil and coal from the Russian Federation.
Focus also wrote that the winter of 2022-2023 saved Europe from an energy crisis. All crisis factors in Europe have weakened due to an abnormally hot winter this year. Energy prices fell, natural gas stocks and LNG supplies increased, and nuclear power plants were gradually returned to the grid after they were shut down for maintenance.
Source: Focus
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