Eric Reguly
The Globe and Mail, Jan. 24, 2022
“The International Energy Agency has accused Moscow of creating “artificial tightness” in the European gas markets by reducing exports by about a quarter more than a year ago, despite record prices, as tensions over Ukraine mounted.”
Even before Russia installed 100,000 soldiers along the Ukrainian frontier in preparation for a possible invasion, European countries were in a low-grade panic about high energy prices. Today, they are in a high-grade panic, as the threat of war pushes prices to new records almost every week.
And they could keep soaring if Moscow reduces natural gas supplies to Europe in retaliation for any Western sanctions that would be put in place if Russian President Vladimir Putin sends his troops across the border. Europe’s energy crisis, in place for a year and already causing enormous pain to families and industrial and agricultural users, may have a long way to run.
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