Report

Russia cutting gas supplies to Europe

Off Topic Chat

Josh started this discussion 15 years 10 months ago

Gas supplies to Europe dry up as row between Russia and Ukraine deepens:
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5456931.ece

Gas supplies from Russia to Europe plummeted overnight with four countries reporting a complete halt as the dispute between Moscow and Ukraine over payment rates dramatically worsened.

Kiev said that Gazprom, the Russian state gas company, had cut the flow by 60 per cent following Vladimir Putin’s threat yesterday to punish Ukraine for allegedly stealing fuel it is supposed to allow to transit through its pipelines en route to Europe.

The Bulgarian Government called a crisis meeting at 7am this morning and appealed to all consumers to limit their usage as the gas stopped flowing at around 3.30am on the coldest night of the year, as it did to Greece, Turkey and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.

"We are in a crisis situation," the Bulgarian economy ministry said in a statement, with temperatures set to fall further this week and consumer demand forecast to rise.

Austria said that supplies were down to just 10 per cent of the expected amount while Hungary said that the flow was below 20 per cent of usual rates and the Czech Republic reported shortfalls.

Full story

How serious is it over there?

Comments

Report

santa klaus

15 years

We have had this before. This is how they bargain. In the long run, both Russia and Ukraine have too much to lose, so there´ll be a deal.

This is not serious for the rest of Europe. In Austria for example, we have enough gas stored for three months.

For the long run, this is a new argument for the new "Nabucco" pipeline (bypassing Ukraine through Georgia and Turkey, the Russians don´t want that one) and another one going through the Baltic Sea (the Russians would prefer to build this one).

Report

aboriginalhostel

15 years

How serious is it over there?

Well, the mentioned quote above is obviously the surface of the story... In practice, the situation is not all about reserves. We gonna have some tough days, so hopefully this crisis will be ended asap.

The average daily gas consumption of Hungary is about 50 million m3 of gas a day, although it increases 2 million more by every -1C.
It is -8C now but we are facing to -12C very soon, which is just the average temperature, some places reached -26C already.

Hungary has about 3,5 billion m3 gas reserved, which even if the daily consumption reaches roughly 80-90 million m3 tops, it could last about 40 days. However, the daily capacity for supplying the reserves is limited to max. 50 million, obviously wasn't planned for a gas crisis in the middle of the coldest winter so far, when country record of colds are beaten every couple of days. so even if we have a plenty reserve, we are still fcuked because of not enough capacity to deploy.

There are five categories of gas consumption. The first one are power plants, the last one is residential use. The power plants has been turned to use diesel which at least we still have. The second and third level has been shut down as well, just within couple of days... I'll let you know if I have to chop the wooden floor! ;)

The bigger pressure is on both sides, the earlier this crisis will be solved.

I'm not crying though, there are worse countries suffering this situation.
Serbians already see the 5th level and there are plenty of houses, residental buildings without heating in such cold...

Report

PatrickO`D

15 years

We have had this before. This is how they bargain. In the long run, both Russia and Ukraine have too much to lose, so there´ll be a deal.

This is not serious for the rest of Europe. In Austria for example, we have enough gas stored for three months.

For the long run, this is a new argument for the new "Nabucco" pipeline (bypassing Ukraine through Georgia and Turkey, the Russians don´t want that one) and another one going through the Baltic Sea (the Russians would prefer to build this one).

I do not live in Europe so I do not know how bad this is or can get. Here in the states riseing energy costs threaten an already thin bottom line. Perhaps we should have a thread on the relationship between energy and Tourism? Hostels tend to be Independently owned/operated with limited financial resources. I think this can make Hostels vulnarable as energy becomes an increasing challenge to hospitality operations.

Search form

Report 'Russia cutting gas supplies to Europe'?

Report 'Re: Russia cutting gas supplies to Europe'?

Report 'Re: Russia cutting gas supplies to Europe'?

Report 'Re: Russia cutting gas supplies to Europe'?

Join the world's largest community of hostel professionals.

Check Your Email