Gas supplies from Russia to Europe plummeted overnight with four countries reporting a complete halt as the dispute between Moscow and Ukraine over payment rates dramatically worsened.
Kiev said that Gazprom, the Russian state gas company, had cut the flow by 60 per cent following Vladimir Putin’s threat yesterday to punish Ukraine for allegedly stealing fuel it is supposed to allow to transit through its pipelines en route to Europe.
The Bulgarian Government called a crisis meeting at 7am this morning and appealed to all consumers to limit their usage as the gas stopped flowing at around 3.30am on the coldest night of the year, as it did to Greece, Turkey and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Americans must continue to push for more drilling, refining and nuclear power. As soon as gas prices came down the air went out of the “Drill Now” balloon. We too are dependent on others for our oil and can easily have it cut off. That’s a recipe for disaster. Don’t give up, keep pushing.
We’ll keep pushing, alright, but in the meantime, what about all of the Europeans who will suffer because of this? Where’s GAZPROM’s conscience? In the toilet?