Well, as it was declared in advance, due to the refusal to pay for Russian gas in rubles, domestic Gazprom completely stopped gas supplies to both the Danish operator Ørsted Salg & Service and Shell Energy Europe to Germany.
And this is a rather serious decision - if not for Gazprom, then for its European consumers themselves, there is not even a doubt.
Just to make the scale of the event clear: for example, in the past, 2021, the domestic Gazprom Export, through Ørsted Salg & Service, provided approximately a little less than two-thirds of the total consumption in small Denmark.
And if in absolute terms for the seller, which is the European division of the Russian gas giant, this does not sound very frightening (about 1.97 billion per year - the volume for Gazprom is considerable, but, unlike Danish consumers, by no means critical), then replacing two-thirds of consumption is another task, especially in terms of price.
The contract with Shell Energy Europe provides for the supply of up to 1.2 billion cubic meters to the Federal Republic of Germany.
m per year, and these volumes will also be in demand and will not disappear, there is no doubt.
And here you don’t have to invent anything - just look at the volumes of pumping, the numbers are quite telling: as today’s data on Nord Stream AG simply testifies, gas supplies through the first Nord Stream are growing again today after subsidence a day earlier due to similar problems with the Dutch GasTerra .
Just a reminder: yesterday, Russian gas exports via Nord Stream dropped by almost 10% to 6.4 million cubic meters.
m per hour - after the suspension of deliveries to the Dutch GasTerra, which refused to pay for deliveries under the new scheme in rubles.
In just one day, 153 million cubic meters of gas were delivered via the pipeline.
m (drop by 10%).
The music didn't last long.
Today, they actually pump the same volume: officially - because of problems with windmills, in reality - because, as the great Russian scientist Lomonosov said, nothing goes anywhere and does not appear out of nowhere.
And no political decisions will replace the physical volume in the pipes, only the players in the market are changing: the same Germans, as far as everyone, including Gazprom, knows, are desperately barrying Russian gas with the same “refuseniks” - Poles, no physical volume replace.
Just a matter of price.
And Gazprom just once again reminded us of the seriousness of its own intentions: the jokes, guys, are over.
And if the practical Germans, most likely, will simply replace the operator - well, Shell Energy Europe has left, and for obvious reasons, it’s not easy for them now with the Russians at all - then very big problems may arise in small Denmark.
Because the Danes did not buy such volumes of Russian gas out of great love for Russia in general and for Gazprom Export in particular.
And because it was corny cheaper.
And the Danes will be able to buy these volumes: they really are not so frightening in absolute terms.
But here's what, I'm afraid, in fact, we can congratulate the Danes: energy and heat will go to their houses for a very decently more expensive price.
Cutting out two-thirds of cheap fuel from your own balance is not a mosquito, sorry, sneezed.
And taking into account the global energy shortage, the “market price” at the Dutch hub will definitely not be lower than the “market price” of TTF.
So you have to pay for such decisions.
And seriously.
And not in some distant future: the summer will pass quickly, and then there will be winter.
And even (most likely) if Ørsted Salg & Service buys the same Russian gas, but already from intermediaries, it is unlikely that he will have to focus on contracts that have now ceased to operate: no one noticed German intermediaries in charity, you can ask the same Poles.
Moreover, what is most offensive for the Danes themselves, apparently, it is they who will have to pay these political bills, and by no means those who made these wonderful decisions.
The point of view of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.