French President Emmanuel Macron has accused Russia of using energy as a “weapon of war”, as the chief executive of oil and gas giant Shell warned that gas rationing in Europe this winter was possible. .
Macron told citizens yesterday to “prepare for a scenario where we have to manage completely without Russian gas.”
“In the summer, early fall will be very hard,” he said. “Russia is using energy, as if it is using food, as a weapon of war.”
He said the government would prepare a “sobriety plan” to save energy, which would start by turning off public lights at night when they are not useful.
“We need a general mobilization,” Macron said in a televised speech for Bastille Day.
Ben van Beurden, CEO of Shell, echoed the French president’s statements, saying Russia had shown it was “capable and willing to arm the energy supply.”
Van Beurden said Moscow had “surprised” the market and told governments to be prepared for the Kremlin to further restrict gas.
“For a long time we thought that it was not in Russia’s interest to cut its largest market and make the European market forever distrustful of Russian supplies,” he said Thursday at the Aurora Spring Conference in Oxford.
“I thought so [Europe] it will be advisable to consider very important contingency plans. That [would] I am reckless that governments are only waiting for the eleventh hour to prepare for this. “
Countries such as Germany and the Netherlands have already begun to activate the first stages of emergency plans aimed at reducing energy consumption and talks are taking place at the highest level in the EU on efforts to reduce demand. during the winter.
Van Beurden siad: “Some companies will do better than others, but I think we will all face a very significant price escalation. So there will be a lot of pressure on the industry and therefore a lot of pressure on the price.
“And in the worst case we will find ourselves in a situation where we have to ration.”
At the same event, Kwasi Kwarteng, the UK business secretary, urged households to use “common sense” when it comes to energy use.
Europe usually gets 40% of its gas from Russia, but the Kremlin has restricted sales to several European buyers in retaliation for sanctions in Moscow after it invaded Ukraine.
There is growing concern that Vladimir Putin will go further with supply cuts to prevent Europe from filling vital gas storage supplies before winter.
The Nord Stream 1 pipeline, which carries up to 10% of European gas under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, is currently closed for maintenance and European governments fear that Russia will find an excuse not to reopen it.
Paolo Gentiloni, the European economic commissioner, warned on Thursday that a “serious” situation in which Moscow is turning off the taps has become “more than a hypothetical one”.
A cut “would bring the EU economy into recession during the second half of this year and further depress economic activity next year,” Gentiloni added.
Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned gas company, said Wednesday it could not guarantee the safe operation of the pipeline due to doubts about the return of a turbine stopped in Canada under sanctions. Canada says it allows the turbine to be returned.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Thursday that the future of the pipeline will depend on gas demand in Europe and Western sanctions against Russia.
The UK receives less than 4% of its supply directly from Russia, but is exposed to the side effects of the European market, i.e. rising prices.
Kwarteng has been preparing contingency plans for a tight power supply during the winter, including the maintenance of coal-fired power plants in line for a backup.
His comments on “common sense” mark a change of tone from the UK government that has struggled to avoid recommending energy-saving measures recommended in the EU, such as lowering thermostats or driving less.
He said he didn’t see people using more electricity than they needed, adding, “When you look back 30 years, we all used electricity a lot more in those days than we do now.”
The EU’s exposure to Russian gas supply was “much greater,” he added.
Shell had a major presence in Russia until the war, including a stake in a project for liquefied natural gas in the Far East and gas stations, but is now leaving the country.
Van Beurden said Putin had “shown that we should take him seriously when he makes threats.”