Xinhua News Agency Beijing, October 11 (Reporter Fan Yu) As winter approaches, European countries are worried about energy shortages. France has launched a national energy-saving plan, calling on the public to reduce the time of hot water showers and completely shut down electronic equipment in standby at night; many places in the UK plan to open public places such as libraries with heating equipment for free for the public to avoid the cold; in Italy, many families have even "traveled" back to the era of wood burning heating, stocking up firewood for winter in advance.
This is a household's electricity meter taken on October 7 in London, England. UK National Grid html warned on the 26th that if the supply of natural gas is severely insufficient and the power input from Europe is reduced, British households may encounter power outages this winter. (Photo by Li Ying, Xinhua News Agency)
Since the Ukrainian crisis escalated, EU has followed the United States imposed multiple rounds of sanctions on Russia, but the backlash caused by the sanctions has caused tight energy supply in Europe and the prices of natural gas and electricity soared. The International Energy Agency warns that will face the risk of a "unprecedented" natural gas shortage this winter. At the same time, the United States sells natural gas to Europe at a high price. According to reports from multiple European media, each LNG carrier sailing to Europe can make more than $100 million in profits, causing industry insiders to shout "crazy".
On the one hand, the United States made a fortune, while Europe complained. As the cold winter approaches, the US-European relations seem to be in a cold state. French President Macron couldn't help complaining that American natural gas was too expensive at an entrepreneurs' conference in Paris. "We want to tell our American friends that you (to us) provide energy, but we have to pay four times the price. For the sake of friendship, we can't continue like this." Macron said that we should talk about this issue carefully at the G7 meeting.
On October 6, a citizen refueled at the gas station of Auchan Supermarket in northern France in Lille. In order to cope with the increasingly severe energy crisis, the French government launched a national energy conservation plan on October 6, calling on the whole country to take active action to avoid the risk of energy supply shutdown in winter. (Xinhua News Agency, photo by Sebastian Kurgi)
In addition to France, Germany is also complaining about "sky-high" bills. days ago, Germany's Vice Premier and Minister of Economic and Climate Protection, Robert Habek, also sneered in an exclusive interview that the United States and other "friendly" countries supply natural gas to Germany at excessive prices and borrow the Russian-Ukrainian conflict to make money in war. He also called on EU countries to be more united and engage in dialogue with "friendly" countries. Habek previously said that because of the higher energy costs than before, Germany will suffer economic losses of nearly 60 billion euros this year and may have a loss of nearly 100 billion euros next year.
Since the end of February this year, the energy crisis has caused European energy prices to soar. In local currency, natural gas prices in Europe have increased by more than 100%. For Europe, which is struggling to find energy supply, U.S. natural gas exports have become more important. According to data from financial information service provider Refinitiv, in September, U.S. departing cargo ships loaded 6.3 million tons of liquefied natural gas , with nearly 70% of which were shipped to Europe.
Europe is deeply trapped in energy anxiety, but American suppliers are making a lot of money. For example, American energy giant ExxonMobil said that the company's net income in the second quarter of this year was US$17.9 billion, the company's highest single-quarter profit ever, far exceeding the US$4.69 billion in the same period last year. As the West continues to increase its energy sanctions on Russia, coupled with the recent "North Stream" natural gas pipeline leakage accident, European countries have to increase the import of high-priced energy in the United States, and the speed of US energy suppliers making huge profits may further accelerate in the future.
This aerial photo released by the Danish Ministry of Defense on September 27 shows a leak point of a "North Stream" natural gas pipeline. (Signed by Xinhua News Agency, photo provided by the Danish Ministry of Defense)
Russian President's press secretary Peskov said that Americans have made great fortunes, and Europeans pay them while also making their country's economy lose its competitiveness.
Soaring energy prices has formed a dangerous transmission chain, which not only adds fuel to inflation but also seriously drags down the economic outlook. Data from the European Statistics Office shows that the inflation rate in the euro zone in euro zone reached 10% annually at an annual rate, setting a new record high. Germany, the European economy's "locomotive" has also begun to show economic warning signals. The German Central Bank recently released a forecast saying that mainly due to the energy crisis, the German economy may shrink in the fourth quarter of this year and the first quarter of next year.
Not only that, 's high energy costs are forcing energy-intensive enterprises in many European countries to reduce or stop production, putting Europe in the challenge of " de-industrialization ". Affected by the surge in energy prices, some European manufacturing companies have been forced to stop production or decide to move production lines recently. Delfzildhamko Aluminum, the largest aluminum manufacturer in the Netherlands, recently announced the suspension of production. Norway Yala International, the largest fertilizer manufacturer in Europe, has closed a large fertilizer plant. The European Nonferrous Metals Association said half of the production of zinc and aluminum in Europe is already at a standstill and European metal smelters are facing an existential threat. Oliver Falke, head of the Industrial Economic Center of the Iver Economic Research Institute in Germany, said: "If energy prices remain high for a long time, some industries will leave Germany." What makes Europeans even more helpless is that since the US energy prices are far lower than those of Europe, the United States has become one of the important destinations for European companies to move out production lines. According to the German Business Daily, Oklahoma, the United States alone has attracted more than 60 German companies to invest and expand their business, including Lutha , Siemens , Aldi and Fercensius. These four companies have recently expanded their investment by nearly US$300 million.
This is the facility inside the LNG receiving station in Revesusa, Greece, photographed on September 21. Revesusa LNG receiving station is currently the only LNG receiving facility in Greece . (Xinhua News Agency, photo by Marios Rolos)
Due to the different energy demand, dependence on suppliers and energy structures of EU member states, there are always difficult differences in the EU's internal coordination of the overall energy policy. The informal meeting of EU leaders held on the 7th of this month held consultations on energy issues, but no specific results were achieved. European Commission President von der Leyen said that in response to the current rising natural gas prices and electricity prices, the European Commission will come up with detailed proposals in the coming weeks. She also said that what is clear about is that it is crucial for the EU to promote joint gas purchases by next spring when natural gas inventory is exhausted. (Editor: Fu Yunwei, Miao Peiyuan, Deng Qian, Liu Yifang, Ma Xiao)
Source: Xinhua International Headlines WeChat official account
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