The U.S. is set to be the big winners as Europe freezes Russia out of the gas market. European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen spoke to reporters on Friday at a press conference after a two-day summit in Brussels, Belgium. Von Der Leyen said that the European Union will purchase gas and divide it among the member states.
“The energy mix and concrete situation in our members is very different but we need to work together to pool our weight,”
“We have an enormous purchasing power. Therefore, I welcome that we will now use our collective bargaining power. Instead of outbidding each other, driving prices up, we will pool our demand.” Von Der Leyen said.
Many European nations still rely on Russia for gas, especially Germany that heavily relies on Russian gas and has said that if Russian gas is sanctioned, the German economy could crash.
But with Russia moving to force nations to pay for its gas in Rubles, the European Union is looking at ways to acquire gas elsewhere. In steps the United States to the rescue once again, of course they will receive a big financial gain if the European Union agrees to buy their gas.
However, gas from the U.S. comes with its own headaches since American LNG is more expensive than the Russian alternative and the logistics of getting the gas to Europe is enormous. This involves condensing the gas to fill special tanker ships and then converting it back to gas on arrival at a special purpose-built port facility. Currently Europe has two dozen of these LNG import terminals but none in Germany which has always been the sticking point in previous attempts from the U.S. to sell gas to Europe.
Donald Trump tried in the past, but the German government rejected the plea and instead pressed ahead with the construction of the now halted Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia. The certification required for the Nord Stream 2 was halted in response to the conflict in Ukraine.
However this plays out it once again looks like the U.S. will be the big winner as Europeans suffer with higher gas prices and supply and demand issues.
But in this crazy cancel culture world, in the words of Joe Biden, high energy prices are something that Europe should put up with to oppose Putin.
“I know eliminating Russian gas will have costs for Europe,” “It’s not only the right thing to do from a moral standpoint,” Biden said. “It’s gonna put us on a much stronger strategic footing.”
When the rich wage war, it’s the poor who die – Jean-Paul Sartre
