Tag Archives: gas

This afternoon.

Russian energy giant Gazprom has shut off gas supplies to both Bulgaria and Poland’s state-owned gas companies after the two countries refused to pay in roubles.

The European Union has accused Russia of trying to “blackmail” the bloc with gas, accusation which Russia has denied.

Meanwhile…

Via Paule Deane, UCC:

The impact of a long term interruption of Russian gas into Europe was studied in detail by our group in UCC. We used a computer model of the EU energy system to understand what would happen in each country if gas from Russia was not available.

Our research showed that, while gas would still flow across Europe, any interruption in supply would lead to higher electricity prices, It would also mean higher climate emissions as gas would need to travel further to reach the demand centres and older coal power stations would be used more to pick up the slack for less gas.

Europe has significant potential to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) via ships into places like the UK, Spain and France and this availability significantly helps to mitigate against interruptions in supply. Ireland does not have LNG capacity, but benefits from the UK resources which are diverse and secure.

Over a period of three to six months, the EU is likely to be able to survive a disruption to Russian gas imports. However, the picture becomes complicated when longer interruption is considered. Running the European economy for several years without Russian gas would be remarkably challenging….

Gulp.

What happens in Ireland if Russia turns off the gas supply? (Paul Deane, RTE)

CNN

This morning.

Belgorod, Russia.

Via Reuters:

The Kremlin said on Friday that a Ukrainian strike against a fuel depot in the Russian city of Belgorod did not create comfortable conditions to continue peace talks with Kyiv.

Russia accused Ukraine on Friday of attacking the depot but Ukrainian authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Speaking to reporters on a conference call, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said authorities were doing everything to reorganise the fuel supply chain and avoid disruption of energy supplies in Belgorod.

Kremlin says Ukraine strike on Russian fuel depot creates awkward backdrop for talks (Reuters)

Meanehile…

Yikes.

Yesterday: Rouble With A Capital T

Russia is ‘changing the payment mechanism’ for certain exports, starting with natural gas tomorrow

This afternoon.

Via Russian state-owned RT:

Countries globally may soon have to create ruble reserves within their domestic economies if they wish to continue to buy Russian gas, as Moscow switches payments to its national currency, Ilya Ilyin, the head of the banking and financial markets analysis department at Promsvyazbank said on Thursday.

“In the event of a transition to gas payments in rubles, the partner countries will probably create a certain fund of ruble reserves to facilitate payments,” the expert said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday that the country is changing the payment mechanism for certain exports, starting with natural gas on April 1. The measure effects countries which have imposed sanctions on Russia in connection with Ukraine and froze Moscow’s foreign reserves.

The ‘unfriendly’ states Putin referred to are the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Switzerland, the 27 nations of the European Union, and a number of smaller countries….

Countries will need to create ruble reserves to buy Russian gas (RT)

Meanwhile…

…via Irish state-owned RTÉ:

Russia supplies about a third of Europe’s gas, so energy is the most powerful lever at Putin’s disposal as he tries to hit back against sweeping Western sanctions over his invasion of Ukraine.

His decision to enforce rouble payments has boosted the Russian currency, which fell to historic lows after the February 24 invasion but has since recovered.

Western companies and governments have rejected the move as a breach of existing contracts, which are set in euros or dollars.

France’s economy minister said France and Germany were preparing for a possible scenario that Russian gas flows could be halted – something that would plunge Europe into a full-blown energy crisis.

Russia will enforce rouble payments for gas from Friday – Putin (RTE)

Getty

The cosmos is filled with faintly glowing gas, invisible to the naked eye but revealed with a telescope and a very sensitive camera. To wit:

…this twelve-degree-wide view of the northern part of the constellation Cygnus reveals a complex array of cosmic clouds of gas along the plane of our Milky Way galaxy. The featured mosaic of telescopic images was recorded through two filters: an H-alpha filter that transmits only visible red light from glowing hydrogen atoms, and a blue filter that transmits primarily light emitted by the slight amount of energised oxygen. Therefore, in this 18-hour exposure image, blue areas are hotter than red. Further digital processing has removed the myriad of point-like Milky Way stars from the scene. Recognisable bright nebulas include NGC 7000 (North America Nebula), and IC 5070 (Pelican Nebula) on the left with IC 1318 (Butterfly Nebula) and NGC 6888 (Crescent Nebula) on the right — but others can be found throughout the wide field.

(Image: Bowen James Cameron)

apod

Screen Shot 2016-04-27 at 00.34.28

A video posted on the Facebook page of NSW Green MP Jeremy Buckingham (which has since gone viral). To wit:

Gas explodes from Australian river near fracking site. I was shocked by force of the explosion when I tested whether gas boiling through the Condamine River, Qld was flammable. So much gas is bubbling through the river that it held a huge flame. There has been concern that fracking and extraction of coal seam gas could cause gas to migrate through the rock. Not only is it polluting the river and air, but methane is an extremely potent heat trapping gas. Fugitive emissions from the unconventional gas industry could be a major contributor to climate change and make gas as dirty as burning coal.

likecool

BpUaLe_IQAI_faa-1

This evening.

Outside the Ireland Oil & Gas 2014 Summit being held at the Conrad Hotel, Dublin.

Sponsored by insurance giant Aon, Tony O’Relly Jnr’s Providence Resources and other disinterested parties.

So what the frack’s going on inside!?

“The Summit will provide delegates with an overview of the fiscal regime and legislations relating to exploration and production in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. . It will ultimately provide you with the opportunity to enhance your understanding of the potential of the region at this crucial time, when a new licencing round covering most of Ireland’s Atlantic margin will soon commence.

Oh.

The 2nd Annual Ireland Oil & Gas 2014 Summit (IrelandSummit)

Thanks John Finucane