Could be a number of reasons, shipping bottkenecks, Europe, Gazprom, inflation.... But generally the media like to draw attention to something which may actually be unrelated. For me, I tend to think in terms of technicals, Natty has been underperforming for years and now it may be recovering. Strangely, coal is strong today as well.
IEA chief accuses Russia of worsening Europe’s gas crisis DUK Editor Team January 12, 2022 The head of the International Energy Agency has accused Russia of throttling gas supplies to Europe at a time “of heightened geopolitical tensions” implying Moscow has manufactured an energy crisis for political ends. Fatih Birol said on Wednesday that the IEA, which represents many big fossil fuel consuming countries, believed Russia was holding back at least a third of the gas it could feasibly send to Europe, while draining Russian-controlled storage facilities on the continent to bolster the impression of tight supplies. “We believe there are strong elements of tightness in the European gas market due to Russia’s behaviour,” Birol said. “I would note that today’s low Russian gas flows to Europe coincide with heightened geopolitical tensions over Ukraine.” Birol added, “Russia could increase deliveries to Europe by at least one-third — this is the key message.” The comments from Birol are his most pointed towards Russia’s role in the energy crisis yet and comes as households in the UK and Europe are bracing for steep increases in their bills after wholesale gas and electricity prices soared to record levels. Russia has long insisted that it has fulfilled all of its long-term gas supply contracts to Europe but has been accused by policymakers and analysts of holding back supplies since last year by restricting spot sales that were once readily available. Gazprom, Russia’s state-backed gas company, wants to win approval for the start-up of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to Germany, which is designed as an alternative to transit routes through Ukraine. Russia has stationed around 100,000 troops close to the Ukrainian border as Moscow holds talks with the US over European security. There is expected to be a vote in the US Senate this week on proposed legislation to impose sanctions on Nord Stream 2. Birol said European countries including the UK needed to prepare for future crises by securing additional gas storage to help loosen any country’s influence over the market at times of stress. He singled out Gazprom’s role in reducing the volume of gas in storage at facilities it controls within the EU. “In terms of the storage the current storage deficit in the EU is largely due to Gazprom,” Birol said, pointing out total storage is at about 50 per cent of capacity compared to 70 per cent normally in January. “The low levels of storage in the company’s EU-based facilities account for half of the EU deficit even though Gazprom storage only accounts for 10 per cent of the EU’s total storage capacity,” he added.
Its funny these psychopaths in the West want perpetual sanctions against Putin and then they blame him for not giving them all the cheap NatGas. Its hard to be stupider tan these people. Like maybe if they didn't have perpetual sanctions he would have sold it to Europe.
As Ukraine invasion looms, Europe fears Kremlin will cut off its gas supply U.S. scrambles to line up https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2022/01/25/ukraine-russia-natural-gas-sanctions/ Russian and U.S. officials traded threats Tuesday about what might be the Kremlin’s most potent weapon in its campaign to divide NATO as it weighs aggression against Ukraine: natural gas. As Russia’s tanks and troops are amassing at Ukraine’s borders, Moscow has reduced the amount of natural gas flowing into the heart of Europe. It is delivering enough to keep power plants and factories humming and ensure that European homes can fend off the chilly January gloom —but not enough to prevent prices from soaring to record levels. The fuel has arrived for decades, through periods of crisis and tension and even the breakup of the Soviet Union. But now Russia is threatening to cut off the gas if it faces economic sanctions following an incursion into Ukraine, and the United States and its allies are scrambling to line up a substitute. “How reliant is Europe on Russian gas? The short answer is very,” said James Huckstepp, manager of European gas analytics for S&P Global Platts. Biden warns of 'enormous consequences' if Russia invades the Ukraine While answering reporter questions, President Biden added on Jan. 25 that a decision by Russia to invade Ukraine would have “worldwide consequences." (The Washington Post) With European leaders already worrying about the skyrocketing cost of gas and electricity, the Biden administration warned Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday that further disruption to natural gas markets would only hurt his own country. A senior Biden administration official said Tuesday that the United States had held discussions with major natural gas producers in North Africa, the Middle East and Asia, as well as domestically, about their capacity and willingness to “temporarily surge” their natural gas output for European buyers. The president plans to host Qatari Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani at the White House on Monday, where they will discuss channeling Qatari gas to Europe. “If Russia decides to weaponize its supply of natural gas or crude oil, it wouldn’t be without consequences to the Russian economy,” added the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the White House has not announced specific policy responses. “Remember, this is a one-dimensional economy. It needs oil and gas revenues as much as Europe needs supplies." But Russian policymakers say that if their country is disconnected from the international bank processing system known as SWIFT, as U.S. leaders have threatened, they won’t keep natural gas flowing. “If Russia is disconnected from SWIFT, then we will not receive currency. But buyers, European countries first of all, will not receive our goods: oil, gas, metals and other important components of their imports,” Nikolai Zhuravlev, the vice speaker of Russia’s upper house of parliament, told the Tass news agency on Tuesday. The tensions illustrate the danger of Europe’s long-standing dependence on Russian gas, the limits of substituting liquefied natural gas shipments from the United States and Qatar, and the obstacles to meeting climate goals as European countries look to coal and even oil as emergency fuels. Europe began importing natural gas from the Soviet Union in the 1970s, and in recent years it has relied on Russia to meet roughly 40 percent of its natural gas needs, according to E.U. figures. But Russia, which had been selling about half of those gas supplies under long-term contracts, has effectively stopped making other supplies available through the spot market. As a result, European natural gas prices have soared to about six or seven times their usual levels. Because of held-back supply, the volumes of natural gas stored in Europe — the buffer that can help the continent withstand challenges to its energy supply — are at their lowest levels for this time of year since 2011, according to data from the Gas Infrastructure Europe trade group. Even without any disruptions, supplies will be tight for the next three months, as the continent pushes through its long winter. With European leaders already split about how much they should sacrifice for Ukraine, the continent’s vulnerabilities are ripe for Kremlin exploitation. Russia briefly cut off gas to Ukraine in 2006 and again 2009 during moments of geopolitical tension, creating shortages in Europe, although it has never imposed a long-term embargo. E.U. policymakers say they fear that Russia could cut energy supplies to Europe in an effort to split off countries, including powerful Germany, that have been more muted in their support for Ukraine. Germany depends more on Russian gas than the rest of Western Europe, importing more than half its supplies from Russia, and it is led by a new and untested Social Democratic coalition, a party that has historically favored friendly relations with the Kremlin. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz — in office only since December — has offered mixed messages about whether he will give final approvals to the already-built Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline if Russia invades Ukraine. That project, which links Germany and Russia underneath the Baltic Sea, would double Russia’s ability to deliver gas directly to Germany. Many other European countries opposed the project precisely because it deepens Germany’s energy dependence on Russia. A Russian cut-off would hurt the country’s long-term ability to sell its fossil fuels and could force Europe to shake its dependence for good. But the blockade could serve a more fundamental purpose of Putin’s than pure economic interests: reshaping Europe’s alliances and undoing the past 30 years of Eastern Europe’s alignment toward the West, policymakers said. He has already demanded a rollback of NATO’s presence essentially to where it stood shortly after the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. “One of their aims is to splinter the West. To find possibilities that we will start talking in different voices, having different positions,” Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told reporters at a meeting of E.U. foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.
Just an opinion, Uranium would be one of the better sectors for stock buying opportunities available atm. The above is monthly chart of Uranium ETF. My preference would be avoid the ETF and buy into the stocks. I just use an ETF chart to represent the sector for illustrative purposes.
High energy prices send Europe’s businesses, homes reeling By AYSE WIETING and SUZAN FRASER an hour ago https://apnews.com/article/business...anbul-poland-b4ca0bcaa5598e2bc12fcd24c6127b3c ISTANBUL (AP) — Mehmet Bogday says his jaw dropped when he saw his electricity bill — it was higher than the rent he pays for his Istanbul restaurant selling traditional Turkish wraps, and more than double what he paid a month ago. “This is unsustainable,” said Bogday, who owns the Asmali Mescit Durumcusu restaurant. “If it continues this way, we will have to lay off staff. If it continues this way, we won’t be able to make this work. We’ll either downsize, or close and go sit at home.” Spiking energy prices are raising utility bills from Poland to the United Kingdom, leaving people struggling to make ends meet and small businesses uncertain about much longer they can stay afloat. In response, governments across Europe are rushing to pass aid to ease the hit as energy prices drive a record rise in inflation. Nowhere is that squeeze felt more acutely than in Turkey, where inflation has soared to nearly 50% and exorbitant electricity bills are stirring protests and fears about how small businesses, like Bogday’s restaurant, can survive. Protests over electricity price hikes broke out across Turkey this week, including some where police fired tear gas to disperse crowds. People are posting their electricity bills on social media to show how costs are untenable. Shopkeepers are displaying notices decrying high bills on shop windows, while others have gathered outside electric companies and set their bills on fire. Like the rest of Europe, electricity generation in Turkey requires energy sources that have surged in price, including natural gas, whose supply is low. A huge drop in the value of Turkey’s currency is driving the price spike in imported gas. As Europe’s energy demand roared back from the depths of the coronavirus pandemic, it ran up against gas reserves sapped by a cold winter last year, a lack of renewable energy generation over the summer and Russia not selling as much gas as usual to Europe. Utilities are passing the costs along to customers, and people are getting hit twice: with higher bills at home and rising prices from businesses also paying more for energy. It’s led to a cost-of-living crisis in some places, but especially in Turkey, where households and businesses were already reeling from eye-watering inflation and a currency that lost some 44% of its value last year, eating away savings and making it difficult to buy even basics like food. Authorities then raised electricity tariffs on Jan. 1, spiking prices by 50% for many people and as much as 127% for businesses and high-consumption households. The leader of Turkey’s main opposition party this week joined a torrent of demands to withdraw the price hikes, saying he would not pay his electricity bill until the tariffs are lowered. Kemal Kilicdaroglu also called for reducing taxes on electricity rates. Faced with mounting criticism, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan made changes this month so the price rises kick in when households use more energy, but it’s failed to provide relief. With price hikes threatening to hurt Erdogan ahead of elections next year, his administration has said it’s working on a possible readjustment or other measures to help people. It’s something that governments through Europe are doing as rising utility costs draw widespread outcry. In Britain, energy prices are set to go up by a record 54% — some 700 pounds ($940) per year — starting in April. The government says customers will get a discount on their bills to be paid back in small installments over the next few years, and most also will get money off another local tax. In total, the government said most people will get about half of the extra cost shaved off. Likewise, Italian households are bracing for a record 55% increase in electricity and 42% in gas in coming weeks, energy regulators say. That’s after prices for electricity rose in October. To draw attention to the issue, mayors plunged the historic city halls of Rome and Florence into darkness Thursday night. The Italian mayors’ association said the government’s response so far has been insufficient to help cities confront hundreds of millions in additional energy costs, making them choose between balancing budgets or cutting services. Premier Mario Draghi this week said Italy’s government was determined to draw up broad measures in coming days that will provide relief to “families and businesses that face difficulties due to the increase in electric energy.” Polish regulators approved energy prices going up by 37% this year, pinching bakeries and other businesses to the point many had to close. The right-wing government has temporarily lowered taxes on electricity, gas, engine fuels, some food staples and fertilizer. That’s expected to cut energy costs for a family of four by some 120 zlotys (26.5 euros) this year. The reductions offset only part of the price hikes, so the government is introducing a bonus to households, ranging from 20 to 1,450 zlotys (4.5 to 320 euros) annually, depending on income. Businesses say it’s not enough to balance their increased costs. In Turkey, energy woes are aggravated by the president’s policies. Erdogan has shunned conventional economic thinking and pressured the central bank to lower interest rates despite inflation at a 20-year high, further pushing up prices. Numan Kurtulmus, a deputy leader of Erdogan’s ruling party, said government support for energy placed “an extraordinary burden” on the treasury, making the price hikes inevitable. “It has been a heavy bill, we are aware of this,” he said, adding that the government was working to bring down inflation. Kazim Iscen, a painter and decorator in Ankara, said he already has fallen behind on his utility costs and would not be able to pay his electricity bill, which came in “two or three times higher” this month. “I call on the government to have mercy on us,” he said. Cengiz Sur, owner of a bar and restaurant in Istanbul, said he has been unplugging refrigerators and heaters and turning off lights after his power bill this month surpassed his rent. “We’ve forgotten about rent and are now trying to figure out how to deal with our electricity bills,” he said. Bendevi Palandoken, head of the Turkey Tradesmen and Artisans Confederation, warned that many businesses will shut down unless the price hikes are withdrawn and special tariffs are set help small businesses. “I think there will be some retreat from the price hikes,” said economist Ozlem Derici Sengul, founder of the Istanbul-based Spinn Consultancy. “I think that to curb the public tension, we may see some action from” government officials. ___ Fraser reported from Ankara. Burhan Ozbilici in Ankara; Sylvia Hui in London; Monika Scislowska in Warsaw, Poland; Colleen Barry in Milan; and Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Spain; and Karel Janicek in Prague contributed.