BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 4. Russian gas supply curtailment will accelerate Europe’s clean energy transition, Edward Gardner, a commodities economist at Capital Economics, a UK-based research and consulting company, told Trend.
“We currently, perhaps optimistically, assume that gas flows from Russia to Europe won’t be interrupted any further in the next few weeks. Whether they will or not will depend on the European Commission’s exact guidance to importers, which is expected to be updated again soon, after initially being criticized by some member states for being unclear,” he said.
Gardner pointed out that if an interruption were to occur, it would presumably happen in stages, with different importers cut off depending on when they are scheduled to make payments to Gazprom.
“Given this has already happened to Poland and Bulgaria, there is a good chance of it happening to other countries. Any further interruption to gas flows would probably cause European gas prices to surge, and gas prices would remain higher for longer than they otherwise would have been. This will only incentivise the acceleration of Europe’s transition away from fossil fuels,” added the economist.
European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson has recently said that the decision by Gazprom to suspend the gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria marks another turning point in the current crisis.
She pointed out that at this stage, there is no immediate risk for Europe's security of supply. For now, deliveries to Poland and Bulgaria continue via alternative routes from Greece and Germany.
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