Ukraine: consequences comparable to the oil shock of 1973, for Le Maire

Bruno Le Maire compares the rise in gas and oil prices, linked to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, to the oil shock of 1973. AP - Bob Edme

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The explosion in the price of raw materials in the world, in particular those of oil and gas, is “ 

comparable in intensity, in brutality to the oil shock of 1973

 ”.

This is what Bruno Le Maire, French Minister of the Economy, thinks, who declared it during a conference on energy independence in Bercy, bringing together political leaders, business owners, specialists in the energy and economists.

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The Russian invasion of Ukraine

and the fear of disruptions in the supply of raw materials linked to international sanctions targeting Moscow have caused prices to soar considerably.

Black gold – oil – rose above $120 a barrel.

Natural gas also reached unprecedented levels, with a jump of 60%.

Russia supplies

40% of European gas imports

.

This energy crisis, Bruno Le Maire compares it to the first

oil shock of 1973

, which caused global upheaval.

In the midst

of the Yom Kippur War

, which pitted Israel against Egypt and Syria, oil-producing Arab countries used black gold as leverage to counter US support for the Israeli armed forces.

They brutally rationed their production, which sent prices skyrocketing and plunged the oil-dependent West into a severe economic crisis.

Bruno Le Maire therefore does not want to reproduce the mistakes of the past, he says.

And the alternative, according to him, is “ total

” energy independence 

 from France and the European Union.

🔴 LIVE |

#PFUE2022 🇫🇷🇪🇺 |

Ministerial conference "Strengthening European energy autonomy and making a success of the ecological transition": opening ceremony by @BrunoLeMaire @Europe2022FR @DGEntreprises https://t.co/eIeLaaDMOO

– Ministry of Economy, Finance, Recovery 🇫🇷🇪🇺 (@Economie_Gouv) March 9, 2022

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