According to the annual report released by BP (British Petroleum Corporation), Russia has the world's first proven natural gas reserves by the end of 2021, with a total of 37.4 trillion cubic meters. It is the country with the richest known natural gas reserves in the world, and Europe, which is next to Russia, is the main target of Russian gas exports.
According to data provided by the Russian Satellite News Agency, the price of natural gas in Europe last spring was 300 euros / thousand cubic meters, and this year it has reached 3500 euros / thousand cubic meters. The reason for the surge in natural gas is the potential threat of supply cuts caused by russia's war with Ukraine.
Let's start with the European Union, the main exporter of Russian gas. According to the latest data from Eurostat, in the first half of 2021, 50% of the EU's natural gas came from Russia, 25% of its oil also came from Russia, and more than 75% of it in an industry is a monopoly. It can be seen how important Russia's energy is for the whole of Europe, which is also the reason why Russia has made a big attack on Ukraine, and the EU has maintained a high degree of restraint, if Russia cuts off the supply of natural gas, it is eight hundred for Russia to lose eight hundred and lose foreign exchange sources. But for Europe, it is absolutely a thousand, and the European countries have almost no choice, unless they accept the high seaborne natural gas, it is a regression to the coal-burning era, and the goal of carbon neutrality may not allow this to happen!
So why are European countries so dependent on Russia's energy supply?
According to the EU's Directorate-General for Energy, coal-fired power generation in the EU has been reduced by about a third since 2012. In addition, Germany passed the Atomic Energy Act in 2011, which prohibits nuclear energy investment. Now only 13% of Europe's energy comes from nuclear power, the same France as early as the french president François Hollande's term, the French government announced the target of reducing the proportion of nuclear power in 2025, proposed to reduce the proportion of nuclear power generation in electricity production from 75% to 50%, and wrote this goal into France's "Green Growth Bill for Energy Transition".
According to the EU Energy Directorate-General, about 25% of the EU's energy consumption comes from natural gas. Oil accounts for about 32 percent, renewables and biofuels at 18 percent, and solid fossil fuels at 11 percent.
Dependence on natural gas means dependence on Russia, which, according to the EU's Directorate General for Energy, is the world's largest importer of natural gas, with Russia accounting for the largest share of 41%, Norway at 24% and Algeria at 11%. Among them, Russia's natural gas is the cheapest, and the reserves are also the largest. Russia fulfills all its long-term contracts, so the gas industry considers Russia to be a fairly reliable business partner.
In the end, it is because of the high quality and low price! The previous construction of Nord Stream 2 can increase the supply of natural gas and thus reduce the price of natural gas, but because of this conflict, the energy crisis in Europe has once again emerged!
In fact, Europe's energy crisis has always existed, only because relations with Russia have eased, thus becoming an undercurrent under the calm water. According to the latest reports, on March 7, 2022 local time, Gazprom announced that the transportation supplied to the European market through the Transit of Ukrainian Gas Pipelines is currently operating normally.
This is also a great spectacle, while fighting and doing business, both sides tacitly understand the root cause!
The EU doesn't want to pay for higher-priced gas, and Russia doesn't want to lose this big customer.
That's why fantasy scenes are staged!
So who do you think will move this double-edged sword first?