EU 'made themselves dependent' on Russian gas says Portillo

We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info

Since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops to invade Ukraine, western powers, including the US, UK and the EU has applied harsh sanctions on the Russian economy.
Last week, they also announced sanctions on Russian oil and gas, Moscow’s largest export and a major piece of its economy. The UK pledged to phase out Russian energy by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, the EU, which is more reliant on Russia’s energy, promised to reduce its reliance well before 2030.

Now, to evade western sanctions, Putin is looking eastwards, towards India, Pakistan and China, to sell its gas and construct more energy pipelines.

China

Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping are looking to increase their gas trade exponentially with the development of three gas pipelines that will flow from Russia to China.

Russia and China already have a gas pipeline in place- The Power of Siberia pipeline.

China is the world’s fastest-growing gas market, with the nation’s total natural gas imports increasing by 19.9 percent in the past year, with pipeline gas imports rising more than 22 percent year on year.

In the past year, China’s natural gas imports from Russia rose by a massive 50.5 percent, as the two countries deepen ties.

According to experts, the two countries have also made plans for two more pipelines, the Power of Siberia 2 and the Sakhalin–Khabarovsk–Vladivostok pipeline.

India

India is set to hand Russia a huge lifeline by importing Russian oil and gas in the face of the West’s sanctions, according to reports.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is ready to sign a deal to import 3.5 million barrels of oil at a significant discount in price, according to reports.

Moscow will reportedly take over the delivery of oil to India and insurance of this transaction.

This will help overcome obstacles in India following sanctions on Moscow.

The planned deliveries of Russian oil will take several months, The Times of India reports.

India meets 88 percent of its oil needs through imports.

DON’T MISS: 
Britain’s nuclear war bunkers exposed – 258 havens across UK [MAPPED] 
Arctic horror warning as melting ice creates ‘giant sinkhole’ [INSIGHT] 
UK to avoid Putin’s EU energy wrath as huge new gas field found [REVEAL]

From April 2021 to January 2022, India imported 176 million tones of oil, two percent of this volume, or 3.6 million tonnes were Russian oil supplies.

Pakistan

Pakistan and Russia do not share a border, and hence Moscow cannot send gas through pipelines towards Islamabad.

However, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran and Putin are set to sign a deal to build a new pipeline, carrying gas through Pakistan.

First proposed in 2015, the Pakistan Stream Gas Pipeline (PSGP) would carry gas between various cities in the country.

Initially, it was planned that the Russian side would own a controlling stake, assume 85 percent of the costs, and operate the gas pipeline for 25 years.

However, in the revised version of the deal, Pakistan’s share will increase to 74 percent, while Russia’s will drop to 26 percent.

Source: Read Full Article