![]() As soon as economic activity picks up in China, Beijing will shutter any exports of energy resources to Europe. The only reason why China is exporting Russian LNG to Europe is because Beijing currently has a surplus of the resource. To make matters worse, China is hardly a reliable energy exporter. Dark and extremely cold winters too have been accepted as imminent. Both Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping are making big money, while European nations continue to be battered by an energy-cum-economic crisis. Ultimately, Europe is emerging as the only loser in this game. What that means is Russia gets to keep earning big by exporting gas to China, since Beijing has ensured European markets remain available for Russian gas. China has effectively become the middleman between Russia and Europe. China is reaping heavy profits by exporting Russian gas to Europe, even as European nations pretend to turn a blind eye to the obvious origins of natural gas which they are swallowing like there is no tomorrow. Therefore, a major part of natural gas currently in European storages continues to be of Russian origin – with the obvious caveat of it having been bought from China.īeijing has emerged as an unexpected saviour for Europe, but it is hardly acting out of the magnanimity and goodness of its heart. So, Europe has been purchasing Russian LNG via China – while pretending like it is highly successful in its campaign to decouple from Moscow. ![]() As per Nikkei, more than 4 million tonnes of Chinese LNG has probably been resold - making up roughly 7 per cent of Europe’s imports in the first half of the year. Europeans are paying for the same Russian gas, only that they are now shelling out two to three times more money than they would have had their governments not prematurely sanctioned and antagonised Russia.Īccording to research firm Kpler, Europe’s imports of LNG have soared 60 per cent year on year in the first six months of 2022. China has been exporting the surplus natural gas in its storage to Europe at inflated prices, and European buyers, who are desperate for even the smallest of LNG drops, are readily buying the resource from spot markets. Europe’s Arrangement with China to Buy Russian Gas However, at a time when China is experiencing an economic slowdown, the Communist nation simply has no use for such volumes of gas. Russia’s sales of pipeline gas to China have increased even more dramatically, growing by almost 65 per cent year on year. ![]() Due to the surge in LNG imports, China’s position as the world’s largest buyer of natural gas got cemented and made Russia overtake the likes of the United States and Indonesia to emerge as the country’s fourth largest supplier of the resource. China’s import volume increased by 28.7 per cent year on year. Now the obvious question would be this: How does China have such a significant surplus of LNG? Well, in the first half of 2022, China’s imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) jumped 60 per cent year-on-year. In comes China to save the day like a messiah – albeit, temporarily.Ĭhina’s economic slowdown has left it with a surplus of natural gas that it is re-selling to Europe. So, Europe has fallen prey to an acute energy crisis which is only set to get worse in the coming winter months. Now, Moscow is saying gas supplies to Europe will not resume until the sanctions against Russia are lifted. ![]() While Moscow previously blamed so-called technical issues for stopping gas supplies to Europe, in the past two days, it has become more candid. Russia was quick to act – cutting natural gas supplies to Europe. Evidently, the European Union misjudged its solidity. Europe’s confident imposition of sanctions against Russia should ideally have evoked confidence within the world community regarding the bloc’s ability to survive without Russian fuel. In its enthusiasm to virtue signal the whole wide world, Europe decided that antagonising Russia was the best and wisest approach following the invasion of Ukraine. ![]()
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