Europe Concerned over Energy Crunch If Russia Cuts Gas Deliveries | DW News

Jul 20, 2022 The EU is concerned that Russia may try to wreak economic and political havoc in Europe in the winter in retaliation for its support of Ukraine. It's now preparing for the possibility Russia will cut gas deliveries completely after sharp reductions.

EU-Kommission will im Notfall Sparzwang für Gas: Das kündigte die Kommission am Mittwoch an. Zunächst sollen die Mitgliedstaaten ihren Verbrauch jedoch freiwillig um 15 Prozent verringern »

Germany Warns on Gas Supply over Russia Payment Row

BBC: Germany has declared an "early warning" over possible gas supply disruption amid a payments stand-off with Russia.

Russia has demanded "unfriendly" countries pay for its gas in roubles, but the EU, which mainly pays in euros, has rejected the idea.

On Wednesday, German economy minister Robert Habeck urged consumers and companies to reduce consumption in anticipation of possible shortages.

Germany gets about half its gas and a third of its oil from Russia.

Berlin has pledged to reduce its dependence on Russian energy over time but warned it could face a recession if supplies stopped suddenly.

Under an existing gas emergency plan, the "early warning phase" is the first of three steps designed to prepare the country for a potential supply shock.

In its final stage, the government would bring in gas rationing. » | Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Inside Story: Oil and Gas: At What Price?

Regional power shifts and how they affect the supplies of gas and oil central to 21st Century life.

Putin Mocks the West and Threatens to Turn Off Gas Supplies

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Russian leader says does not want 'new cold war' but threatens to disrupt European gas supplies

Vladimir Putin has mocked diplomatic efforts to end the Ukraine crisis as Russia threatened to disrupt European gas supplies by cutting off sales to Kiev over its unpaid debts.

The Russian president said through his official spokesman that, despite deep disagreements with the West, he did not want a confrontation over Ukraine to spiral into a “new cold war”.

Nevertheless Dmitry Peskov ridiculed Western demands for direct talks between the Kremlin and the new Kiev government, claiming that the loss of credibility involved “puts a smile on our face”.

The remarks were broadcast during the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, where the Ukrainian athlete carrying her national flag was given a loud cheer.

Earlier, Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned energy giant, said it would start to reduce deliveries to Kiev, a move that would disrupt supplies to Europe. Gazprom said Ukraine had failed to make payments on its £1.2 billion debts. » | Damien McElroy, Donetsk | Friday, March 07, 2014

Californians Ordering Hundreds of Gas Masks from Brewer Business Following Japan Nuke Threat
BANGOR DAILY NEWS: BREWER, Maine — As the world watches Japanese officials struggle to stabilize nuclear power plants damaged by the major earthquake and tsunami last week, Californians are going online to order gas masks and chemical suits from Brewer, according to Maine Military Supply owner Frank Spizuoco.

“Hundreds of gas masks daily are going out the door,” he said Thursday. “It’s pretty crazy. It reminds me of the frenzy after 9-11.”

People in California are ordering gas masks and related gear, including chemical suits, jackets, gloves, pants and boots, Spizuoco said. » | Nok-Noi Ricker, BDN Staff | Posted: Thursday, March 17, 2011; Friday, March 18, 2011

U.S. Fears Tripoli May Deploy Gas As Chaos Mounts
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: WASHINGTON—The government of Col. Moammar Gadhafi hasn't destroyed significant stockpiles of mustard gas and other chemical-weapons agents, raising fears in Washington about what could happen to them—and whether they may be used—as Libya slides further into chaos.

Tripoli also maintains control of aging Scud B missiles, U.S. officials said, as well as 1,000 metric tons of uranium yellowcake and vast amounts of conventional weapons that Col. Gadhafi has channeled in the past to militants operating in countries like Sudan and Chad.

Current and former U.S. officials said in interviews that Washington's counterproliferation operations against Libya over the past decade have scored gains, in particular the dismantling of Tripoli's nascent nuclear-weapons program and its Scud C missile stockpiles. But the level of instability in Libya, and Col. Gadhafi's history of brutality, continues to make the U.S. focus on the arms and chemical agents that remain, they said.

"When you have a guy who's as irrational as Gadhafi with some serious weapons at his disposal, it's always a concern," said a U.S. official. "But we haven't yet seen him move to use any kind of mustard gas or chemical weapon" during the unrest. >>> Jay Solomon | Thursday, February 24, 2011

Weißrussland stoppt Gastransit in den Westen
WELT ONLINE: Der Gasstreit eskaliert: Weißrussland will die für Westeuropa wichtigen Transitleitungen für russisches Gas abdrehen.

Weißrussland dreht die Gaspipeline in den Westen zu. Bild: Welt Online
Im Gasstreit mit Russland hat die weißrussische Regierung angeordnet, den Transit von Gas nach Europa zu stoppen. Der autoritäre weißrussische Präsident Alexander Lukaschenko habe die Sperrung der Pipelines verfügt, meldete die Agentur Interfax aus der weißrussischen Hauptstadt Minsk.

Der russische Staatskonzern Gazprom schulde Weißrussland 260 Millionen US-Dollar (rund 212 Millionen Euro) für das Durchleiten von Gas nach Westen, sagte Lukaschenko. Von der Blockade wäre besonders das EU-Mitglied Litauen betroffen, da das baltische Land zu 100 Prozent über diesen Weg versorgt wird. >>> dpa/AFP/dma | Dienstag, 22. Juni 2010

Fate of Swiss Expatriates in Libya Was Ominous for al-Megrahi Case
TIMES ONLINE: British and other Western expatriates living in Libya were warned in April that they faced serious repercussions if the Lockerbie bomber died in his Scottish prison.

“Word went out that there could be reprisals . . . . We were told not to go into the centre of Tripoli,” said one of the thousands of Westerners who are helping to develop Libya’s oil and gas fields. “Everybody went ‘eek!’. It’s so unpredictable here. You don’t know what’s going to happen. It could be something or it could be nothing.”

The expats were not told what the reprisals might be were Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi to die in Scotland, but the tale of a Swiss citizen called Max Goeldi may be instructive. Mr Goeldi has spent much of the past year holed up in Switzerland’s largely deserted embassy, unable to leave Libya and too frightened to set foot on the streets of Tripoli.

A visit yesterday by The Times to the high-walled embassy in a quiet residential street in the Libyan capital was interrupted at the door when two unsmiling men in a white car pulled up and asked our translator what we were doing. He fled. The men drove off when the embassy’s sole diplomat opened the gate, but the latter politely refused requests to see Mr Goeldi.

Mr Goeldi’s story — and that of the Swiss in Libya in general — demonstrates what the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi can do if angered by countries that covet its oil, gas and lucrative development contracts. >>> Martin Fletcher in Tripoli | Tuesday, August 25, 2009