Bloomberg pointed to the risk of Europe unleashing a global struggle for gas

In 2025, Europe will obviously face a shortage of energy resources, and against the background of the termination of Russian gas transit through Ukraine, this may lead to a global struggle for this type of fuel. This was reported by the Bloomberg agency on January 13.

"There will definitely be a shortage of energy carriers in Europe this year. That means all the extra LNG that will come in this year around the world will go to make up for the shortfall in Russian gas," Francisco Blanch, a commodities strategist at Bank of America Corp. told the agency. Francisco Blanch.

In particular, Europe now has enough gas reserves to survive the winter, but they are being depleted by cold weather. Options for fuel supplies have been limited since gas transit from Russia through Ukrainian territory was halted. By next winter, Europe risks not meeting its supply targets.

In order to cover the anticipated level of demand, in the future the European Union (EU) countries will have to import up to 10 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year, which is 10% more than Europe received in 2024. At the same time, alternatives to gas from Russia are hard to find. Theoretically, new projects in North America could ease the deficit, but this depends on how quickly production is ramped up there.

Importantly, Europe's needs may deprive the largest consumers in the Asia-Pacific region of supplies. If supplies are depleted there, it will additionally lead to higher gas prices, and countries such as India, Bangladesh and Egypt, for example, may not be able to afford the fuel at the new higher cost. Additionally, countries in Europe will be able to purchase gas at a higher price, but this will negatively affect the economic recovery of some of them, such as Germany.

Transit number: Will gas supplies through Ukraine stop on January 1?

Preservation of exports will depend on the geopolitical situation and the persistence of European business, experts believe

Earlier on Jan. 10, Britain's Centrica reported that the country's gas storage reserves had fallen to "alarmingly low" levels due to the cessation of transit through Ukraine and a cold winter. Compared to the same period in 2024, there is now 26% less gas in the kingdom's storage facilities.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on January 9 called the United States the beneficiaries of the halt of Russian gas transit through Ukraine. At the same time, the presidential spokesman pointed out that European states were interested in receiving more competitive gas from Russia.

At the same time, Gunnar Lindemann, a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Berlin, told Izvestia that due to the cessation of gas supplies from Russia to Western Europe through Ukraine, this type of fuel will seriously increase in price already this month. The politician drew attention to the fact that the price increase will hit the poorest residents of the region first of all. These people will probably not be able to pay their bills for more expensive gas and will be left without heating in winter.

On January 1, 2025 , Gazprom stopped supplying fuel to Europe via Ukraine. The company said that this happened due to the repeated and explicit refusal of the Ukrainian side to extend these agreements.

Back in August last year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (his term expired in May 2024) said that Kiev would not extend the gas transit agreement with Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed out that Moscow was not giving up gas supplies through Ukrainian territory.