Natural gas flowing through a web of pipelines from Russia heats homes and power factories across much of Europe. Russia is also one of the continent’s key sources of oil.
While Russia masses troops and military equipment near its border with Ukraine, parallel tensions have been building in world energy markets.
Natural gas is trading at about five times the price of a year ago. Although prices are now about half of the peak reached late last year, they are roughly seven times higher than levels in the United States. High gas prices raise electricity costs, threaten big increases in consumers’ bills and have pushed some energy-hungry factories like fertilizer plants and metal smelters into temporary shutdowns.
Despite Europe’s big investments in renewable energy like wind and solar power, it still needs conventional sources of supply. Gas-fired power plants are one of the few options left.While flows of natural gas vary and have fallen of late, about one-third of Russia’s gas exports to Europe usually go through Ukraine. Those pipelines could become collateral damage during a Russian invasion, analysts say.
Goldwyn, who is now president of Goldwyn Global Strategies, an advisory firm, added that Putin was trying to strike a balance “between being a reliable supplier as he has been to Germany and reminding Europe how dependent they are on Russian gas.”
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