The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Fatikh Birol said that Europe should prepare for the fact that by winter Russia could completely stop supplying gas to the region. He also called on the governments to work on a decrease in gas demand and maintain the work of nuclear power plants. Earlier, Gazprom began reducing gas supply to Europe, explaining the solution to equipment with equipment.
“The closer to winter, the more the intentions of Russia are understandable. I think that the purpose of the abbreviations is to prevent Europe from filling out the storage facilities and strengthen Russia’s influence in the winter months,” Fatih Birol said in an interview with the British newspaper The Financial Times. He emphasized that countries should delay the closure of nuclear facilities and “do everything possible” to fill the storage facilities before the start of winter.
In his opinion, by winter, the governments of European countries will take more and more measures to control the demand for gas.
Birol believes that the additional emissions of CO2 from the use of coal will be compensated in the future due to the development of renewable energy in Europe and a decrease in dependence on fossil energy. At the same time, he did not rule out that in conditions of fuel deficiency, countries will have to introduce supplies.
The Head of the IEA also stated that the reduction in gas supplies to Europe could be a “harbinger” of further restrictions on gas supplies by Russia. So Moscow is trying to get leverage to the West in a military operation in Ukraine, he believes.
In mid -June, Gazprom reduced gas supply to Europe from 167 million to 67 million cubic meters. m per day by “northern stream”. The company explained this with problems with timely repair of foreign gas pumping equipment. Germany said that the decision was political, not technological. In total, in recent months, gas supplies to Europe have fallen almost doubled compared to 2021.