The European Union is “able to react” to Russia’s choice to halt fuel provides to the bloc, a prime EU official informed CNBC on Saturday.
Russia’s state-owned vitality big Gazprom on Friday introduced an indefinite halt to fuel flows to Europe by way of the Nord Stream 1 fuel pipeline, citing the necessity for extra repairs.
The transfer got here after provides had already been halted final week for a deliberate “upkeep outage” that was anticipated to final till Sept. 3.
“We anticipate that Russia is respecting the contracts that they’ve however even when the weaponization of vitality will proceed or will improve in response to our choices, I feel that the Euoprean Union is able to react,” mentioned Paolo Gentiloni, the EU’s economics commissioner.
“After all, we now have to save lots of vitality, we now have to share vitality, we now have [a] excessive stage of storage and we aren’t afraid of Putin’s choices,” Gentiloni informed CNBC’s Steve Sedgwick on the Ambrosetti Discussion board in Italy.
“We requested Putin to respect their contracts but when they do not respect their contracts then we’re able to react,” he mentioned, with out detailing precisely what actions this might entail.
Russian President Vladimir Putin smiles throughout a joint press convention with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni following their assembly on the Bocharov Ruchei state residence in Sochi, Russia, Could 17, 2017.
Yuri Kadobnov | Reuters
Gazprom mentioned on the Telegram messaging app that inspectors discovered an oil leak within the pipeline.
“Gasoline transportation to the Nord Stream fuel pipeline has been utterly stopped till the problems on the operation of the tools are eradicated,” the vitality firm mentioned.
The halt to provides comes after a summer season of risky relations between Russia and the EU because the warfare in Ukraine continues, with Russia accused of “weaponizing” fuel provides to its European neighbors in a bid to stress the bloc for sanctions aid. Russia denies utilizing vitality as a weapon.
Gazprom has repeatedly mentioned that sanctions are stopping it from sustaining and operating the pipeline effectively and had already decreased fuel flows via the pipeline to round 20% of its full capability.
Gazprom’s choice got here hours after the Group of Seven financial powers agreed on a plan to impose a worth cap on Russian oil in an try and curb Moscow’s oil revenues.
A halt to all Russian fuel provides places the EU in a good spot because it heads into the autumn and winter.
Since Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, the EU has seemed to cut back and section out its imports of Russian fuel. Nonetheless, whereas it scrambles for various provides, it stays considerably depending on these provides.
The bloc has already known as on all members to voluntarily scale back their respective fuel consumption by 15% within the fall and thru the winter months in a bid to eke out provides.
