🇷🇺🇪🇺 Gas trade between Russia and Europe has had its ups and downs for over half a century but has brought tremendous benefits to both sides.

Europe’s energy policy ambition of a fast shift to a carbon-neutral economy for which natural gas is undesirable and merely a near-term, stop-gap solution is a threat to Russia-Europe gas trade.

In these circumstances, Russia is likely to intensify its efforts to diversify away from its dependence on the European gas market both in terms of methods of gas delivery and target markets, writes Vitaly Yermakov, expert with the Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies, National Research University Higher School of Economics.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-rude-awakening-europe-is-struggling-to-secure-/

#Gas #Europe #energy #NordStream2

📷 AP Photo/Petr David Josek

@valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

🏗🇪🇺 Nord Stream 2 could provide Europe with cheaper and greener energy. What stands in the way?

In October, the German Federal Network Agency suspended the certification process on the pretext of the recently-completed Nord Stream 2 pipeline not being compatible with the energy legislation in place. Swiss-based Nord Stream 2 AG is planning to open a subsidiary in Germany to comply with the EU and German energy regulations.

While it is too early to speculate whether this move could further stall the start of Nord Stream 2, it has given rise to numerous statements on the project’s (negative) impact on the European gas market and the future of natural gas transit via Ukraine.

The polarisation of public opinion regarding the pipeline’s impact has fundamentally altered purely technical discussions regarding the project. This had led to a misunderstanding of the key commercial reasons for starting the project and the future impact of the pipeline on European consumers. 

The politicisation of energy often prevents decisions from being made based on facts rather than incorrect perceptions, writes Valdai Club expert Danila Bochkarev. 

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/nord-stream-2-could-provide-europe-with-cheaper-gas/

#Corporations_and_Economy #NordStream2 #Europe #energy #gas

valdai_club — The Valdai Discussion Club

💡 What is the difference between energy efficiency and energy saving?

💡 Which of these strategies will help to reduce energy risks in the future?

💡 How quickly can society shift to new technologies?

You can find out more about these things and more from our video infographic "Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving".

👉 This infographic was prepared especially for tomorrow's special session of the Valdai Club within the framework of the SPIEF-2022, titled “Self-sufficiency and cooperation: features of the modern political economy”.

#valdai_infographics #energy #SPIEF

@valdai_club

🇪🇺🇷🇺 The events in Ukraine have produced the largest political conflict between Russia and the EU since the end of the “cold war” and had profound effects on the EU policy towards Russia’s energy supplies.

It has turned a long and carefully planned separation between Russia and Europe that both sides were contemplating for quite some time into a hasty and ugly divorce in which ex-partners are trying to hurt each other as much as possible regardless of consequences and collateral damage.

In the process we have witnessed the attempts to identify and use vulnerabilities in the energy value chains by each of the opponents leading to the weaponization of energy and making it part of the ongoing proxy war between Russia and the West.

The EU policies have changed from reducing dependence on Russian energy to its complete phaseout, as soon as possible. The reality is, however, that the energy systems have tremendous inertia, and it would be a strategic blunder to think that a political directive can provide the EU with alternatives to the Russian energy by a wave of the magic wand.

The EU wants to be in control of when it stops importing Russian oil and gas, but this may not be possible, writes Vitaly Yermakov, Expert, Centre for Comprehensive European and International Studies, HSE University.

#EconomicStatecraft #EU #energy #sanctions

@valdai_club

🇷🇺🌏 Russia literally is the granary of Asia; and Russia is the powerhouse of the world. 

It might not be an exaggeration to say that more than a billion stomachs in Asia and Africa go hungry without food supplies from Russia and a couple of other countries in the region.

In the last few years, pandemics and geo-political factors have triggered a major food crisis. This crisis, dubbed the worst the world has seen since World War II, is severely impacting low-income countries and communities in Global South.

Some 50 countries depend on Russia for their food supply, particularly for wheat, maize and sunflower oils. Majority of these are poor and import-dependent countries in Asia and Africa.

What applies to food security also applies to energy security. Acute shortages in energy supplies are leading to severe stress on the countries in Global South – in Asia, Africa and Latin America.

Climate challenges, pandemics, supply chain disruptions and military conflicts are not the creation of the Global South, yet the countries in Global South – in Asia and Africa - have been the major victims of them, writes Varanasi Ram Madhav, Founding Member of the Governing Council of India Foundation.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/food-and-energy-challenges-in-asia/

📌 This article was prepared for the Valdai Club’s 13th Asian Conference.

#ASIANVALDAI #Asia #Russia #India #foodcrisis #energy

@valdai_club

🪨🌐 Global coal use is set to rise by 1,2% in 2022, surpassing 8 billion tonnes in a single year for the first time.

Dear followers, Happy New Year! We created an infographic on the global coal demand. The high-res infographic is available on the website.

#valdai_infographics #coal #energy

@valdai_club

🏷🛢 After prolonged elite discussions (and disagreements) within Western executives, the EU, the G-7 and Australia decided to cap the purchases of Russian seaborne oil to $60 per barrel.

Ukraine itself – not to mention Poland – argues that the West should stop purchasing hydrocarbons from Russia altogether, further privileging the sale of expensive American LNG to Europe. This is a false debate and a wrong policy.

The debate is false for multiple reasons, three of which stand out:

1️⃣ First, American LNG is not enough to fuel Europe’s economic and social infrastructure.

2️⃣ Second, LNG imports require construction of special tankers and terminals, which Europe has just start building.

3️⃣ Third, Russia has already begun diversifying its crude oil and gas exports to Asian markets, especially China and India, making new agreements and building new pipelines.

The USA, looking after its own self-interest, protects its economy from global inflationary trends, whereas, on the other, Russia turns to China, India and even Turkey to substitute for its relative loss of the European energy markets. No doubt, the big loser of the Ukraine conflict is the EU, writes Valdai Club expert Vassilis Fouskas.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-russian-predicament/

#EconomicStatecraft #energy #energycrisis #pricecap

@valdai_club

🚧 The three-year period of 2020-2022 has transformed the landscape of the global gas market. 

▪️ 2020 was marked by a global recession and a decrease in gas consumption due to widespread anti-COVID restrictions.

▪️ In 2021, there was a “perfect storm” of a price crisis in the EU gas market.

▪️ In 2022, the galloping increase in gas prices in the EU continued against the backdrop of Russia’s Special Military Operation in Ukraine.

▪️ Unfriendly countries imposed sanctions on the Russian Federation, and the Russian Federation took countermeasures. As a result, Russian gas supplies to the EU were significantly curtailed.

▪️ In September 2022, the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 gas pipelines were destroyed in a terrorist attack.

The restructuring of the world gas market has begun (both in the regional and global dimensions), which will take years and lead to accelerated growth in the share of LNG in the world natural gas trade.

The changes that have begun in the global gas market fit into the process of transformation of the entire system of international relations and international trade.

This will result in a new structure emerging for the global gas market and a possible adjustment of the positions of key gas producers and consumers on a number of energy development issues, writes Evgeny Tipailov, Executive Director of the Institute for Problems of Interdependence.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/global-gas-market-a-new-state-of-aggregation/

#EconomicStatecraft #energy #gas

@valdai_club

💡🌏 Today, the global energy order that emerged after the energy crisis of the 1970s is undergoing structural changes.

It happens under the influence of energy transition policies, geopolitical conflicts, and the transformation of traditional economic relations; access to energy resources can be determined within the narrow framework of strategic and even military alliances.

These times of great upheaval present new challenges and opportunities for the Energy Club of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation. The key challenge for SCO member states and associate partners is how to turn the organisation’s Energy Club into an effective institutional body for harmonising their energy strategies and strengthening energy security, given the rapidly changing global energy architecture.

In the context of the transformation of the global energy order, the issue of increasing the role of the SCO Energy Club in managing energy processes at various levels is more acute than ever, writes Shamil Yenikeyeff, Professor, School of International Affairs, Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs, Higher School of Economics.

https://valdaiclub.com/a/highlights/the-sco-energy-club-in-the-changing-global-energy-/

#Asia_and_Eurasia #energy #gas #oil #ШОС

@valdai_club