On Thursday local time, Russian President Putin announced that companies in non-friendly countries should first open a ruble account in the Russian bank, and then pay for the purchased Russian natural gas through this account.

// Putin signed a decree to settle natural gas trade with rubles . It will take effect on April 1 //

On Thursday (March 31), Russian President Putin announced that companies in non-friendly countries should first open a ruble account on Russian Bank , and then pay for the purchased Russian natural gas through this account.

According to CCTV News, Putin signed a decree on the same day that stipulates rules for conducting Russian natural gas transactions with so-called "unfriendly countries." Putin said Russia is providing a clear and transparent plan to dealers in these countries: to buy Russian natural gas, and they should open ruble accounts at Russian banks.

According to the Russian Satellite Network, Putin's decree on paying for natural gas in rubles applies to all contracts signed with companies registered in unfriendly countries.

Putin stressed that if the purchase of natural gas is refused to be settled in rubles from April 1, companies in these "unfriendly countries" will be deemed to have failed to comply with the obligations stipulated in the gas contract and the contract validity will be suspended. Putin said: "If we don't pay, we will think it is a breach of contract by the buyer and the buyer will be responsible for all consequences. No one sells anything to us for free, and we don't intend to do charity." Putin said in a television speech that natural gas transactions are paid in rubles, and is a step towards Russian financial sovereignty.

In addition, Putin also believes that European countries are ready to ignore the interests of their citizens and cater to the interests of "overseas hegemons". The United States tries to blame Russia for its mistakes and make profits by exploiting the difficulties of other countries. Putin believes that the United States launched an economic war against Russia, and the sanctions are all prepared in advance, because Russia is unwilling to "dance with others' tone." Putin also instructed the Russian Federation government and the Russian Central Bank to formulate response policies related to sanctions against Russia. Putin said that because the pressure on sanctions against Russia remains, Western countries will not give up on their policy of putting pressure on Russia and will look for new excuses to impose sanctions.

According to the presidential decree signed by Putin on the same day, the Russian Central Bank will determine the details of opening special foreign exchange accounts for foreign natural gas buyers within 10 days.

It is reported that according to the order of Russian President Putin, natural gas buyers in "unfriendly countries" should transfer foreign exchange to a special account of Russian banks, and Russian banks will then purchase rubles.

Financial website Forexlive analyst Adam Button commented that Putin's signing of natural gas expense settlement with rubles sounds no big deal. Buyers will not be forced to obtain rubles themselves, which is basically just a matter of paying with another bank.

Response from Western countries

Regarding the Russian natural gas trade ruble settlement law, Western companies and governments refuse to accept . French Finance Minister Le Maire responded that the euro-denominated natural gas contract will be paid in euros, and France and Germany are preparing for Russia's possible suspension of natural gas.

German Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Economic Affairs Habek also responded strongly that we are ready to deal with any decisions Putin may make on the issue of natural gas, and we will not be blackmailed by Putin in terms of natural gas payments.

German Chancellor Scholz said that loopholes in sanctions must be plugged to continue putting pressure on Putin; Germany hopes to be able to depart from Russia's oil and coal imports this year, and it will take longer to depart from natural gas dependence, seeking to rapidly reduce its dependence on Russian energy.

Scholtz stressed that companies must be allowed to pay for natural gas in euros, and are already looking at natural gas transport contracts denominated in euros and dollars, and told Putin that it would keep paying this way.

White House : Biden announces the release of the largest oil reserves in U.S. history

East Time on Thursday (March 31), the White House issued a statement on energy measures. Biden will announce the release of the largest oil reserves in U.S. history. will release 1 million barrels of strategic oil reserves per day in the next six months to deal with the rising gasoline prices and supply shortages after the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. The

situation description mentioned that the United States has coordinated with allies and partners around the world to release oil reserves, and the largest oil reserve release in history will play a transitional role until the end of the year when the United States increases oil production.

The White House claims that the release of strategic crude oil reserves will immediately support global supply, which will have a "meaningful impact" and alleviate the suffering of inflation that ordinary American families feel. At the beginning of this year, the average price of gasoline in the United States was about $3.30 per gallon. Currently, it is over $4.20, up nearly $1.

The White House said Biden will also call on Congress to impose economic penalties on oil and gas companies that rent public land but do not produce energy. The White House criticized that too many companies failed to fulfill their responsibilities and chose to make high profits without making additional investments to help increase oil supply; one CEO even admitted that even if oil prices rose to $200 a barrel, they would not increase production. "Energy traders believe that releases strategic oil reserves is a short-term solution that may help ease oil prices, but is unlikely to make up for losses in Russia's exports," said Ed Moya, senior market analyst at

Oanda. "In a note to clients, Damien Courvalin, an analyst at Goldman Sachs Group, wrote in a note to clients that the latest U.S. move will suppress oil prices, however, this is still just a release of strategic oil reserves, rather than a continuous increase in supply.

In fact, U.S. President Biden has ordered the release of U.S. oil reserves twice in the past six months, but this has little effect on curbing soaring oil prices. He also called on OPEC to speed up oil production, but OPEC+ representative said Thursday that it continued to increase oil production "slowly" as expected, rejecting requests from external urging it to accelerate production growth.

/// spent $11 billion in vain. " Beixi No. 2 " will be abandoned before it is enabled? //

After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Western countries imposed a series of sanctions on Russia, and "Nord Stream 2" was one of the earliest victims. As time goes by, , a large-scale energy project that took several years and spent $11 billion, faces the fate of "death in the womb". The original intention of the Nord Stream 2 design was to double the natural gas transmission between Russia and Germany. The pipeline began to be laid in 2018. Although some obstacles were encountered in the middle, the entire pipeline was finally laid in September 2021. Afterwards, Germany began to review the project in order to obtain an operational license.

Unfortunately, by the end of February this year, the Russian-Ukrainian conflict broke out, and German Chancellor Scholz announced that the approval procedures for the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline would be temporarily suspended. As the geopolitical crisis escalates step by step, Beixi 2 was pushed to the edge of the cliff - from the initial threat measure to a complete "stifling" ending.

Senior researcher at the Marshall Foundation of Germany and head of the geopolitics team, Kristine Berzina, said on Wednesday: "The Russian-Ukrainian conflict has killed the Nord Stream II project. In short, for Germany or any other European country, it is unimaginable to turn 180 degrees and authorize the operation of the pipeline after Russia takes action."

Berzina pointed out: "Europe's pipelines that are operating normally now face huge instability in the future, let alone Nord Stream II?"

Policy change

European countries have expressed their intention to end their dependence on Russian energy. EU said it will cut Russian natural gas imports by two-thirds by the end of 2022 and plans to completely end its dependence on Russian fossil fuel imports by 2030.As all existing natural gas needs to be reduced, Beixi No. 2 will naturally have no place to use it.

Recently, Russian President Putin decided to ask "unfriendly" natural gas consumers to buy natural gas from them in rubles, but G7 (G7 ) rejected this request, which increased the possibility that European natural gas will be cut off.

Energy analysts said that the future of Nord Stream II is very questionable amid such grim geopolitical tensions. Kateryna, chief analyst at Wood Mackenzie European Gas Research Filippenko said on Wednesday: "We think Nord Stream II will never run."

Filippenko pointed out: "Europe's attitude towards Russian gas has changed irreversible and it is now determined to diversify its supply of natural gas. Meanwhile, Russia threatens to stop delivering natural gas to Europe if it is not settled in rubles. Even a few years later, Europe and Russia It is also difficult to restore friendly relations, which will open the green light for Nord Stream 2. "

hopeless

Nord Stream 2 is a cooperation project between Russian natural gas giant Gazprom and five European companies. The five European companies are Germany's Uniper and chemical giant BASF Wintershall Dea, Engie, OMV and Shell.

As Western companies withdraw from Russia in large numbers, energy companies involved in the Nord Stream II project were forced to accept the huge losses of the project. Wintershall Dea announced in early March that it would cancel its Nord Stream II project, as did OMV and Uniper, and Shell has also withdrawn from the project.