Soaring gas prices are a cost of this war – and Britain can’t avoid them
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought with it crippling increases in the price of gas.
On Friday, the price per therm spiked 25% to hit a record high on energy markets before slipping backwards. A fresh peak above 500p per therm – nine times the price seen just over a year ago – is expected over the next few days as traders panic about the course of the war.
Fears that Moscow is planning to restrict supplies of natural gas in response to further rounds of sanctions, driving the price higher still, cannot be easily dismissed, according to some analysts, who concede that Vladimir Putin’s administration is deliberately undercutting any rational view of his tactics in this increasingly bitter, destructive war.
Not surprisingly, the major recipients of Russian gas acrossEurope have spent the last week scrambling to find alternative sources.
Italy, which uses gas to generate 40% of its electricity and imports more than 90% of its gas, mostly from Russia, has looked to Algeria and Azerbaijan for alternative supplies.
German politicians have talked about cancelling plans to shut down nuclear power plants and ramping up electricity production from coal-powered generators.
In the short term, though, Russian gas is an essential element of the energy mix, and without it rationing would be widespread.
Heavy industries across Europe have already adopted short-time working or, in several cases, weekly shutdowns to cope with rising prices. Car-company bosses are among many who believe they would never be able to pass on the cost of higher energy to consumers and so have made the choice to restrict production until prices fall.
Boris Johnson rightly says Britain has successfully reduced the supply of gas from Russian gas fields to below 5%,
Read more on theguardian.com
