No, she’s not simply an idiot. Nor do the Hansiatic elites consider us to be so stupid. The nuclear dystopia or frozen future we may all soon experience is all about economics. So, they have us over a barrel, so to speak. Since they control the distribution of energy, which is the only true measure of success or failure nowadays. Ukraine, climate change, the green movement, freedom of this or that all boil down to profit, as I am sure you already know. Unfortunately for us, the last battle for a Btu or megawatt will be fought by us, for them.
A recent POLITICO report reveals just how little the European Union’s leadership knows about the energy market. It also shows us how western leadership rests on pure acting ability and shamelessness. Take the unelected EU President Ursula von der Leyen. She’s the best example of a shameless string puppet lying to citizens. Anyone who has watched the video segment where she’s showing people how to wash their hands to save water/energy knows she’s willing to stoop to any level.
The POLITICO story “The Russian gas habit Europe can’t quit: LNG” brings to light that the EU is trying to replace Nordstream gas by any and every means possible. In this case, via the Russian energy firm Novatek, which operates the Yamal LNG terminal in northwestern Siberia. The story bends and twists with the same old “Putin energy blackmail” rhetoric but finally gets to France, the Netherlands, Spain, and Belgium importing Russian LNG as fast as they can.
Finally, most people realize the Russians are not blackmailing anyone. And new proof emerging that the UK and the US blew up Nordstream shows the real blackmailers. This is not the point, however. The energy reality we face today is what’s crucial. A Columbia University research scholar named Anne-Sophie Corbeau makes my point for me with:
“In economic terms, it “made sense” for Europe to keep importing LNG from Russia for now. Cutting Russian LNG out of the EU market would mean European countries buying up more LNG from elsewhere in the world, driving up prices for poorer countries in Asia.”
Supply and capacity, this is what the western politicians are either obvious to, or are hiding from the public. Russia and other energy rich nations cannot be left out of the supply equation. The people behind Ursula von der Leyen and even Joe Biden certainly know this. Look at the Saudis shunning the U.S. president when he went there begging for more capacity. Most media outlets framed their refusal as some kind of rebuff, but in reality, the Middle East is tapped out production wise. I don’t want to burden the reader with another discussion of “peak oil” here. It should be clear to everyone, though, that the world is operating in energy consumption overdrive right now.
Few analysts look at the real causes crises like Ukraine, Syria, and other proxy wars. They are, as some have chided, all about the gas. Take world natural gas production and demand for example. The United States has led capacity wise for some years now, but the high cost of producing gas from shale is unsustainable. This is why the price has to be higher in order that U.S. and UK companies can profit from sales. This BP production/consumption analysis shows us. At the crux of this report, we find this:
“Outside the US, on the demand side, gas consumption in Europe rose strongly (up 6%), helped by both the increasing competitiveness of gas relative to coal and weakness in European nuclear and renewable energy.”
Now, factor out cheap Russian gas and that rate of increase profits who? LNG production is what BP was plying investors with back in 2017 when this report was written for shareholders. And now you understand why UK SAS teams blowing up Nordstream, and former PM Liz Truss phoning U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken are not such far-fetched realities. The Ukraine situation has been in planning since before 2014. BP shifted its portfolio toward natural gas almost 10 years ago. What does this tell you? Another quote from the report will seal it for you:
“Forecasts also point to global LNG trade growing seven times faster than pipeline gas trade, so that by 2035 it accounts for around half of all globally traded gas.”
Right now, EU officials are hell-bent on crazy initiatives like building floating LNG regasification terminals so that America can come to the energy rescue. Forgetting the environmental catastrophe for the moment, the problem with these schemes is that the United States does not have the extra capacity without robbing American gas consumers. The U.S. consumes most of the shale gas it produces, as well as a big portion of that coming from Canada. But this is another part of “the plan” to make shale gas a viable profit commodity. Russia, Iran, and other cheap natural gas suppliers simply must go no matter who suffers. And I guess you all know who will be doing the suffering. At the end of all of this, many people are going to suffer or even die because of the insane policies western governments have pursued.
Ursula von der Leyen, Joe Biden, and whoever the Brits prop up in front next deceive the people. Every report you read, no matter how western biased the authors are, reveals the same reality. By February most of Europe could be totally out of fuel to heat homes. This Gas Market Report Q4 2022 from the International Energy Agency (IEA) frames the Russians as the energy villains too. But the authors cannot hide the numbers. One chart shows how even high LNG supply assumption will end with gas storage capacities falling to less than 20% across Europe by February. Without Russian or other LNG supplies, this figure drops to near zero. The same report outlines how inventories falling below 30% would drastically affect industry and the individual consumer. In this report, the only viable solution will be a demand reduction because of high prices. Or in other words, poorer Europeans buying less heat to warm their families not because the tap has run out, but because they cannot afford it. Now there’s a reality von der Leyen has not informed us about.
Finally, the narrative across western capitals is echoed by Von der Leyen with statements like:
“We must cut Russia’s revenues, which Putin uses to finance his atrocious war in Ukraine.”
Or, viewed from another perspective – to just cut Russia’s profits to enhance ours, while funding the war we started in the first place.
In Washington there is talk of putting boots on the ground in western Ukraine. The people are being groomed to believe that all of this is somehow a Russia world domination scenario, when in fact, it’s the death throes of a world hegemony that could never have lasted. Europeans, American, and ultimately all the people of the world are already paying the price for this insanity. Sadly, the future no matter what happens in Ukraine does not look bright at all. By 2035 even BP projects Europeans will demand almost 20% more natural gas. As for America’s excess for sales? Well, North America will need almost 30% more for the people there. There won’t be excess to sell to Europeans.
Putin blew holes recently in the whole “weaponization of grain” narrative surrounding the grain corridor in the Black Sea by guaranteeing grain for needy nations. And as it turns out, almost all of that food the EU and others seem to concerned about was never headed to Africa or Asia anyhow. The grain U.S. companies mostly own is destined for the German or Dutch bread store. Again, the lies western mainstream media distributes for the elites are not simply onerous, they are deadly. Sadly, alarmingly I should say, there does not seem to be a “Plan B” in place for Ukraine and Russia-America detente. It’s as if whoever is really in charge is only concerned about huge profits now. Which is the only EU-UK-US policy logic that makes any sense. We’re being asked to practice solidarity so western elites can profit more. End of story.
Phil Butler, is a policy investigator and analyst, a political scientist and expert on Eastern Europe, he’s an author of the recent bestseller “Putin’s Praetorians” and other books. He writes exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.