“Europe must be ready in the event of a complete shutdown of Russian gas,” Fatin Birol told FT. “The closer we get to winter, the more we understand Russia’s intentions,” he added. “I believe the cuts are aimed at preventing stockpiles in Europe from filling up and increasing Russia’s leverage during the winter months.” As a means of dealing with the worst effects of such a scenario, Birol advised European governments to keep the nuclear power plants operational and to take other emergency measures. These other emergency measures seem to be focusing on demand. “I believe that there will be more and deeper demand measures [taken by governments in Europe] “As winter approaches,” Birol told the FT, adding that the distribution of gas was a separate possibility in the event of further cuts in Russian gas supplies. In the last three months, Russia has cut off supplies to many European countries that have refused to pay for gas in rubles. It has also significantly reduced flow along the Nord Stream, effectively cutting off supplies to France and reducing flows to Germany by about 60 percent. Gazprom and equipment maintenance company Siemens Energy have blamed the reduction on a delay in delivery of the turbine due to new Canadian sanctions against Moscow. Germany blamed Gazprom. The European Union’s largest economy is facing a recession if Russian gas flows stop completely, an industrial organization warned this week. The BDI cut its growth forecast for Germany to 1.5% from 3.5% this year and said that if Russia cut off gas, the economy would inevitably slide into recession. Meanwhile, Germany, Austria and the Netherlands are restarting coal-fired power plants to make up for lost gas. The IEA’s Birol defended the move in an interview with FT, saying the restart was temporary and whatever the increase in emissions would be offset by future renewable energy capacity. By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com More top readings from Oilprice.com:
