Europe begs for gas supplies

 Daily Caller:

European leaders traveled to authoritarian countries Monday in search of new energy deals as Russia’s threats to cut off gas exports grow more extreme.

Leaders of the European Commission (EC), Italy and France rushed to ink energy agreements with counterparts in Azerbaijan, Algeria and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to offset the deficit in Russian gas imports, the Associated Press reported. The EC signed a deal Monday to increase gas imports from Azerbaijan from 8 to 12 billion cubic meters in the next year, reaching 20 billion by 2027, Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.

“Already before Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, the Russian gas supplies to Europe were no more reliable. The European Union has therefore decided to diversify away from Russia and to turn towards more reliable, trustworthy partners,” said von der Leyen.

Russian state oil giant Gazprom announced it would halt gas supply to at least one customer in Europe through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, citing uncontrollable circumstances, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Monday. The move may confirm fears that Russia would terminate gas exports to Europe, which relies heavily on energy from Russia. (RELATED: Germany Debates Running Back To Nuclear Power As Russia Threatens To Shut Off Gas To Europe)

But Russia has a presence in Azeri natural gas markets. Russia’s second-largest oil company, Lukoil, spent $1.45 billion to buy a 10% stake in Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz natural gas project in February, Reuters reported.
...

The US could be helping its allies if Biden had not reduced US production in offshore wells and in Alaska.  His shortsighted energy policies drove up the world price of oil enriching Russia and in effect funding Russia's war with Ukraine.  Before Biden was sworn in the US was a net exporter and could have expanded its LNG operations to supply Europe.  Instead, Biden reduced production and incredibly started buying gas from Russia.  It was one of the most idiotic blunders in history by a US President.

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