It is official - Europe Russia gas oil disagreement ! Europe cannot agree to stop buying gas and oil from Russia, says Josep Borrell.
The pressure for the countries of the European Union (EU) to stop buying Russian gas and oil is growing.
And it does so in parallel to the growing feeling that it is hypocritical to decree all kinds of economic sanctions, while Europe pays 285 million euros every day only for crude oil from Russia.
But, for now, that total embargo is not going to come.
This was confirmed by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Josep Borrell.
Europe Russia gas oil disagreement
In statements quoted by the German newspaper Die Welt, and collected by Reuters, the head of European diplomacy has assured that there is no agreement of the EU member states to establish a total embargo or a punitive tariff on oil and gas imports from Russia.
Russia is Europe's largest oil supplier and provided just over a quarter of EU crude imports in 2020, according to data from statistics office Eurostat.
For this reason, some EU countries are pushing for the establishment of a sixth package of sanctions against Russia, while Brussels is preparing a report with what would mean an absolute halt to these imports.
It will be discussed, Borrell pointed out, at the next summit of the European entity, which will take place at the end of next May 2022. Of course, right now, he stressed, “a final proposal for an embargo on oil and gas is not on the table."
Europe Russia gas oil disagreement notes
In addition, he noted that all EU countries are already working to reduce their dependence on Russian gas and oil and that this will serve to limit imports eventually.
Although there is currently no unanimity on this issue, Josep Borrell is optimistic about the future: "At some point it will happen and Russia will feel with pain how it loses its income from oil and gas sales,” he said.
Europe Russia gas oil disagreement definition
Characteristics of methane gas
Methane is a hydrocarbon to which we may owe our lives.
When the first bacteria and archaea populated the Earth, 3.5 billion years ago, there was a thousand times more methane in the atmosphere than today.
This molecule formed by four hydrogen atoms around one of carbon became the central part of the biological processes of those original living beings and would have managed to regulate the climate of the planet.
If we compare methane with carbon dioxide (CO2), its warming potential during the first 20 years of life is eighty-six times higher.
And, if we consider the first one hundred years, it multiplies it twenty-eight times. The difference is that their life is much shorter.
On average, one methane molecule disappears after nine years in the atmosphere, while one of CO2 exceeds two hundred years.
CH4 is the main component of the natural gas that we use for heating or electricity generation and in nature anaerobic microorganisms naturally produce it, those that thrive where there is no oxygen. It is also emitted by volcanoes, which are responsible for the fact that the primitive atmosphere had much more methane than the current one.
