Does Russia hold the key to the current energy crisis?

Russian President Vladimir Putin has boosted gas supplies to Europe and says the country will act to stabilise the market and rising prices. Russian gas sales to the EU are expected to hit a new record this year as a result.

The continuing rising prices are adding to the pressure on the energy sector, this winter looks set to be a very hard one.

The natural gas supply from Russia has been much lower than this time last year as the country reduced the supply through the Ukraine. Russia has now started to fill its Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline which it says will help to alleviate the surge in energy prices across Europe when it comes online.

The high price of wholesale gas has put a number of UK energy firms out of business.

Oil prices continue to spike, OPEC+ agreed to maintain output increases at 400,000 barrels per day, each month, despite high oil prices and a surge in demand for crude as a result of the global energy crisis.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline diverts supplies from an existing route through Ukraine. Many say the pipeline will reduce the Ukraine’s revenue from the existing pipeline to the tune of billion euros ($1.2 billion) annually in the transit fees it currently charges Russia.

Nord Stream 2 will be able to pipe 55 billion cubic metres of gas per year to Europe, increasing the continent's access to relatively cheap natural gas at a time of falling domestic production.

Germany, Europe's top economy, imports around 40 percent of its gas from Russia, and Berlin believes the pipeline has a role to play in the country's transition away from coal and nuclear energy.

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