announced Russia’s Gazprom To produce gas on Wednesday, it cut supplies to Denmark’s Ørsted and Shell Energy under its contract to supply Germany with gas following the two companies failed to make payments in rubles.
Gazprom has already halted supplies to Dutch gas trading company Gastera, as well as to Bulgaria, Poland and Finland following refusing to pay for the gas. in Russian rubles Moscow also requested in response to Western sanctions imposed on it for the invasion of Ukraine.
German, Italian and French companies said they would take part in the Russian payment plan to guarantee Maintain supplies.
For its part, the Federal Agency for Networks, the regulator for networks in Germany, said today, Wednesday, that Shell Europe’s supplies constitute only small quantities of gas supplies that can be exchanged from other sources.
Data from Energenet, the operator of the Danish system, showed that the flow of natural gas to Denmark through Germany continued steadily today, Wednesday. There is no direct gas pipeline from Russia to Denmark. The Danish Energy Agency said buyers in the country have the option to purchase from sources other than Gazprom.
Gas supplies through Ukraine, a major export route for Gazprom to Europe, continued, recording 41.2 million cubic meters on Wednesday, down slightly from yesterday.
Denmark’s largest energy company said Russia would cut off its gas supplies from Wednesday because it refused to pay in rubles, and Danish energy company Ørsted said it still expected to be able to serve its customers.
“We stand firmly in our refusal to pay in rubles, and we were preparing for this scenario. The situation supports the European Union’s need for independence from Russian gas by accelerating the construction of renewable energy,” Ørsted CEO Mads Knipper explained.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in the wake of Western sanctions that “unfriendly foreign buyers” need to open two accounts with state-owned Gazprombank, one to pay in euros and dollars as specified in the contracts and the other in rubles.
The Danish Energy Agency said that in the first 18 weeks of 2022, Russian gas accounted for nearly 25% of gas consumption in the European Union. The agency pointed out that Denmark’s loss of supplies will not have immediate consequences.
In turn, Christopher Botzau, head of the Danish Energy Agency, said: “We still have gas in Denmark, consumers still have access to this material, and we have plans in place if the situation worsens.”
Denmark has been a natural gas exporter for many years but due to the renewal of the Tyra field in the North Sea, the country currently imports regarding 75% of its gas consumption through Germany. The Tyra field is expected to reopen in mid-2023. The agency said regarding 380,000 homes in Denmark use natural gas for heating via gas boilers.
European Union leaders agreed on Tuesday to cut regarding 90% of all Russian oil imports over the next six months. The 27-nation bloc depends on Russia for 25% of its crude oil and 40% of its natural gas.
(Archyde.com, Associated Press)
