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Europe's deepening energy crisis

Back in July 2022 I wrote about the financial problems that the utility giant, Uniper, was having as a result of the European sanctions. On July 8, Uniper applied for a bailout.

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/07/08/gas-giant-uniper-submits-bailout-application-to-german-government.html

On September 6, European governments saw a crisis coming as the result of Russia’s shutdown of the Nordstream 1 gas pipeline (to assist Europe with their sanctions!).

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-06/europe-s-lehman-warning-on-energy-prompts-flurry-of-cash-help

European governments are patching together emergency measures to support utilities amid fears that companies will buckle under the weight of growing margin calls, worsening an energy crisis that’s sent prices soaring and left the continent short of gas.

Recent days have seen a flurry of news -- from Sweden to Switzerland to the UK -- as companies and governments try to get to grips with the situation. Norway’s Equinor ASA has said that European energy trading risks collapsing under the weight of margin calls amounting to at least $1.5 trillion.

On September 16, Germany nationalized the Russian-owned oil refinery, Rosneft.

https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/16/energy/rosneft-germany-oil-refineries/index.html

Berlin/LondonCNN Business — 

The German government has seized control of three Russian-owned oil refineries to secure supplies of gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel.

Germany’s economy ministry announced on Friday that it had temporarily taken over Russian oil giant Rosneft’s subsidiaries in the country. Rosneft Deutschland and RN Refining & Marketing account for about 12% of Germany’s oil refining capacity, the ministry said in a statement.

The move was designed to “counter the threat to the security of energy supply,” it added.

Europe has been embroiled in a bitter energy standoff with Russia since Moscow invaded Ukraine in late February, and its imports of Russian oil and natural gas have fallen sharply.

Germany’s Federal Network Agency, which regulates its gas and electricity industries, will control Rosneft’s shares in three refineries: PCK Schwedt, near Berlin, MiRo, near Heidelberg, and Bayernoil in Bavaria.

Trade is based on trust and a nation’s protection from theft under its laws. This trust has now been totally broken, and it could take a generation or more for this to be reversed. And for what? Oil pipelines are shut down. If they have no oil to refine, these refineries are useless.

In my view, this expels Russia from Europe itself and fixes it firmly as an Asian country. Asia will benefit; Europe will suffer and should prepare for a cold winter. Germany should prepare to be de-industrialized. The American plot to split Russia and Germany has succeeded. That plot was fully discussed in an article on February 19, 2022.

https://www.algora.com/Algora_blog/2022/02/19/the-crisis-in-ukraine-is-not-about-ukraine-its-about-germany

Yesterday Germany nationalized Uniper.

https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/germany-nationalizes-countrys-biggest-gas-importer-uniper-90253621

BERLIN -- The German government said Wednesday that it has agreed to nationalize the country's biggest natural gas importer, Uniper, expanding state intervention in the industry to prevent an energy shortage resulting from Russia's war in Ukraine.

No, actually this was caused by Europe’s reaction to the war in Ukraine. It is the sanctions that caused this problem, as Europe decided to shut down its economy to prepare for Klaus Schwab’s “great reset.”