Europe cracks over Russian oil ban

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on May 6 that the country could not support the new EU sanctions package, including an oil ban on Russia. Orban said the proposed Russian oil embargo was like an “atom bomb” dropped on the Hungarian economy, and said Hungary was ready to negotiate if there was a new proposal that suits its interests.

The EU on May 4 proposed the toughest sanctions package against Russia, but some EU member states fear that a six-month ban on oil imports from Russia will not give them enough time to adapt.

According to the news agency ReutersCzech Prime Minister Petr Fiala said the country would seek to postpone the implementation of the ban to give enough time to increase the capacity of the Central European country’s oil pipelines, which is expected to take 2-3 years.

Analysts say there is still a possibility of severing Europe’s oil ties with Russia, but the effort will take time and could lead to shortages, driving up prices for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. and other products rose higher, which in turn led to inflation and ultimately derailed the post-pandemic economic recovery.

The reserve in the town of Rehden – Germany is the largest natural gas storage in Western Europe Photo: Reuters

Meanwhile, Germany has begun to fill up the Rehden gas depot belonging to Gazprom (Russia) energy group to prevent the risk of Moscow shutting off supply. Last month, Gazprom gave up its business in Germany. Many other European countries are also rushing to find ways to store gas for next winter in the face of the risk of supply disruptions from Russia.

However, economists say that this is not an action that can help the continent become less dependent on Russian supplies. In an effort to reduce Russia’s energy dependence, the European Biogas Association says the EU can rapidly scale up production of biomethane, injecting it into natural gas networks.

The investment of 83 billion euros ($87.5 billion) at current market prices would be less than what the 27 EU countries pay each year to Russia for gas. The project will generate 10 times more biomethane by 2030 and could replace about a fifth of the gas it imported from Russia last year.