Will Russian gas ever return?
Views on the longer-term future of the pariah state’s gas resources are divergent
Russian pipeline gas is unlike Russian oil in that reduced volumes to Europe cannot simply be diverted to other destinations, owing to the logistical constraints of moving the commodity. So, once eastern routes to China are maxed out, supply not delivered west is lost to the global market. The EU’s current strategy is to reduce its reliance on Russian gas as quickly as possible, while committing to phasing out such supplies entirely by 2027. But the Putin regime’s appetite to weaponise gas deliveries to try to break European unity on opposition to its murderous Ukraine invasion has outstripped even its former largest customer’s timetable for weaning itself off Russian supply. This disconnect
Also in this section
16 September 2024
The third part of our fourth chapter on the history of oil takes the story of gas to the present day with the rise of LNG and the creation of a truly global market
16 September 2024
Gas is difficult to move compared with oil, requiring additional infrastructure. The second part of our history of gas examines how expanding pipeline networks made it possible to monetise the fuel
16 September 2024
The first part of our fourth chapter on the history of oil looks at the origins of gas and LNG—once considered a nuisance, now a fuel of the future
13 September 2024
The Ukraine–Russia gas transit and interconnection agreements are due to expire at the end of this year, but despite some uncertainty, Europe seems well-prepared