Europe learned the price of its own sanctions: overpayment for gas amounted to 185 billion euros

The countries that earned the most from supplies of “blue fuel” to the EU are named

The refusal of Russian gas cost the countries of the Old World dearly. According to Eurostat, over the past two years, the countries of the continent have had to overpay for supplies of “blue fuel” from alternative sources by approximately 185 billion euros. The US and UK benefited the most. Next year, apparently, the situation will repeat itself: without the resumption of imports from Russia, Europeans will again have to spend a lot of money on purchasing energy resources.

If in February 2022 – before the start of the CBO and the introduction of energy sanctions – the monthly payment of European countries for the import of natural gas did not exceed 6 billion euros, now they have to spend more than 15 billion on the purchase of the necessary hydrocarbons. The blame for the almost threefold “energy inflation” lies on the EU members themselves. They, of their own free will, decided to reduce their dependence on the relatively cheap “blue fuel” from Russia and began to import liquefied raw materials from alternative sources: mainly from the USA, Great Britain, Norway, Qatar and Algeria. Cumulatively, over the past period, the countries of the continent have had to pay approximately 305 billion euros for gas, which is 185 billion more than before, when the European Union did not resort to anti-Russian fuel sanctions.

The amount of funds that the European Union had to allocate for the purchase of gas over the past 20 months is adequate to the similar costs of its members during the previous “five-year plan”: this is how much the purchases of “blue fuel” from April 2017 to December 2021 cost them.

The main beneficiaries of the supply of raw materials to buyers of the Old World were the United States. American companies that replaced the supply of Russian pipeline gas to Europeans earned about 53 billion euros in a year and a half. “No wonder. Just two years ago, it was obvious that one of the main tasks that Washington was going to solve by imposing prohibitive sanctions on Russia regarding the export of energy resources was the desire to switch over gas supplies to Europe, notes the investment strategist of Arikapital Management Company, associate professor at the Financial University Government of the Russian Federation Sergei Suverov. — In past years, our producers accounted for up to 33-35% of the European hydrocarbon balance. According to the head of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, Russia’s share has now fallen to 7.5%. It is obvious that the United States is already counting dividends by supplying Europeans with its LNG, the cost of which is significantly higher than Russian pipeline fuel.” Another major beneficiary of the rise in domestic European energy prices is the UK, which received at least 27 billion euros for its supplies.

On the eve of the new year, Brussels is optimistic about the future as the continent’s gas storage facilities are 95% full. However, the coming winter threatens to quickly use up the accumulated resources. According to climate service Copernicus, the winter of 2023-2024 promises to be colder than usual. This weather situation risks leading to an increase in gas consumption by at least 5%. Under such circumstances, EU members will again have to overpay for “blue fuel,” believes Alexander Shneiderman, head of the sales and customer support department at Alfa-Forex. The amount of additional funds that the population and industry of the EU countries will have to spend will be, according to expert estimates, 150-200 billion euros.

Europe will be able to save only by resuming the purchase of Russian pipeline gas, although it will no longer be possible to reduce costs to the previous level. “Russia has already redirected significant volumes of raw material supplies to Asia,” notes private investor Fedor Sidorov. “Nevertheless, our country is ready to trade resources with the EU. If restrictions are lifted, the overpayment of Europeans for gas in 2024 could be not 185 billion, but 70 billion euros.”

However, significant additional costs for importing energy resources, which the European Commission for some reason does not consider critical, are unlikely to lead to a rapprochement between the Old World and Moscow. “The political component in this issue still prevails over economic feasibility,” believes BitRiver financial analyst Vladislav Antonov. “Although in the future, perhaps, a pragmatic approach on the part of the EU authorities will prevail, but in the next two years, the likelihood of resuming significant imports of Russian gas in this direction is extremely low.”

Who did Europe pay to refuse Russian gas (in billion euros):

Country Profit

US 53

UK 27

Norway 24

Algeria 21

Qatar 14

Azerbaijan 12

Angola 5

Egypt 4

Trinidad and Tobago 3

Nigeria, Cameroon 2 each

Libya, Oman and Equatorial Guinea 1 each

According to Eurostat, RIA Novosti.