Europe warned of future winter threat

According to Reuters’ report from a news conference held by Shell on Monday, CEO Ben van Beurden stated that as a result of the supply cut by Russia, Europe may experience gas shortages for a number of winters to come.

 

“I do not believe that this catastrophe will be contained to the span of just one winter.” According to van Beurden, it is quite possible that we will experience multiple winters in which we will be required to find solutions of some kind.

 

The chief executive officer made the point that Europe will continue to be under pressure as it moves on with plans to wean itself off of gas imports from Russia by 2027. Van Beurden made the observation that “if there was no Russian gas supply at all… life would be very difficult,” and he added, “We should all be very conscious and responsible when it comes to it.”

 

The hope that Europe’s energy problem can be resolved quickly “is a delusion we should set aside,” according to the chief executive officer of Shell.

 

Last week, European gas and power futures contracts skyrocketed to new all-time highs, with prices reaching levels that are approximately ten times higher than where they were one year ago. The protest was in response to an announcement made by the Russian energy company Gazprom that the Nord Stream 1 pipeline would be temporarily shut down in order to perform repairs on the sole operable turbine. Between the 31st of August and the 2nd of September, all gas transportation along the route will be completely halted.