Gazprom offices in St Petersburg, Russia
UK parliamentarians take aim at Russian gas politics
Fingers pointed at the Kremlin as the primary driver of spiking European gas prices
UK parliamentarians took advantage of the country’s energy minister making a statement in the lower house on the impact of spiralling gas prices to accuse Russia of being a prime mover in driving up European gas prices as part of its political agenda. But Kwasi Kwarteng, the country’s secretary of state for business, energy and industrial strategy, refused to be drawn on the Kremlin’s role in the price spikes. “To what extent is the UK collateral damage in a Europe-wide crisis which has been caused by the Kremlin's weaponising of gas supply [and] its attempts to intimidate the EU into accepting [the] Nord Stream 2 [gas pipeline], potentially as a precursor to more violence in Ukraine?” asks
Also in this section
16 January 2026
The country’s global energy importance and domestic political fate are interlocked, highlighting its outsized oil and gas powers, and the heightened fallout risk
16 January 2026
The global maritime oil transport sector enters 2026 facing a rare convergence of crude oversupply, record newbuild deliveries and the potential easing of several geopolitical disruptions that have shaped trade flows since 2022
15 January 2026
Rebuilding industry, energy dominance and lower energy costs are key goals that remain at odds in 2026
14 January 2026
Chavez’s socialist reforms boosted state control but pushed knowledge and capital out of the sector, opening the way for the US shale revolution
