Even without Russian deliveries
Habeck sees energy supply secured
02/24/2022 3:39 p.m
After the Russian attack on Ukraine, concerns about energy supply bottlenecks are growing. Minister of Economics Habeck assures that Germany would manage without deliveries from Russia. The European Union also sees itself “prepared for the worst”.
Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck has assured that Germany will have a secure supply of oil and gas even in the event of a Russian supply freeze. “We and I will do everything to ensure that the energy supply in Germany is secure,” said the Green politician to journalists. The EU also considers the gas supply to be secure.
According to Habeck, the national oil reserve covers 90 days without deliveries. Russia’s share of Germany’s oil supply is 35 percent. “So we can cope well with rising prices and long outages,” said the Economics Minister. The gas supply is 55 percent dependent on Russia. However, his ministry has opened up other sources in recent weeks, “so that the gas supply is secured.” He also said: “We’ll definitely get through the winter – even in the event that prices continue to explode.” 50 percent of the coal comes from Russia. Habeck now wants to “take care of a coal reserve”. The fact that Russia has only delivered minimum quantities in the past few months should be reassessed in the context of the apparently planned war of aggression.
According to the assessment of the EU Commission, the gas supply of the European Union is secure. “We’ve been working for weeks to be prepared for the worst,” said EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels. It was also about making sure that you were independent of any pressure from Russian gas supplies. “We’ve reached that stage.”
According to data on Wednesday, there are several countries that would be able to increase their LNG shipments to the EU. Azerbaijan, Egypt, Nigeria and Norway were mentioned as examples. Von der Leyen had already said at the Munich Security Conference at the weekend that the EU would be on the safe side this winter, even if gas supplies were completely interrupted by Russia.
In the EU, there have been fears for weeks that the current conflict with Russia could lead to an interruption in gas supplies. Until recently, according to the Commission, the EU covered almost a quarter (24 percent) of its energy requirements with gas, of which 90 percent was imported. 40 percent of the imports came from the Russian company Gazprom.