Europe Advised To Prepare For Complete Shutdown Of Russian Natural Gas In Winter - Media

The Director General of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Fatih Birol said that Europe should be ready for a complete shutdown of Russian natural gas in the coming winter, the reduction of supplies to EU countries last week should be seen as a harbinger of their complete termination.

This was reported by the online edition Deutsche Welle.

"Moscow is trying to use natural gas as a pressure factor in the ongoing war with Ukraine. Europe must be ready for a complete shutdown of Russian natural gas. The closer we get to winter, the better we understand Russia's intentions. I am sure that the reduction in supplies is aimed at preventing Europe from filling storage facilities and increasing Russia's influence in the winter months," Birol said.

The IEA and the European Commission have developed a plan that will allow the EU to reduce Russian natural gas consumption by two-thirds by the end of the year. It involves a variety of measures - from increasing imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and accelerated development of renewable energy to measures at the individual level, including replacing natural gas heaters with heat pumps in houses, limiting the speed of vehicles on highways, reducing travels on vehicles, reducing house temperatures by 1 degree Celsius and others.

According to the ICIS consulting company, if before the invasion of Ukraine Russia provided 40% of the EU's natural gas needs, now this figure has decreased to 20%. However, the main opportunities for diversification, primarily by increasing offshore LNG supplies, have been exhausted, according to ICIS. Birol called on European governments to take measures to limit natural gas consumption and postpone the closure of nuclear power plants.

The European Union has set a goal of filling storage facilities with natural gas by 80% by November 1. Last week, when Russian supplies through the Nord Stream-1 pipeline fell to 40%, the volume of filling was on average 52% in Europe. At the same time, Poland prepared faster than others for winter (96%), Germany filled the storage facilities by 58%, France - by 56%, and Sweden - by only 10%.

The complete shutdown of Nord Stream will lead to the fact that natural gas reserves will be fully used up in January 2023, and if pumping continues at 40%, than by the end of winter, said Massimo Di Odoardo, Vice President of Gas and LNG Research at Wood Mackenzie.