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The ships full of gas waiting off Europe's coast:
The huge tankers are waiting. Off the coasts of Spain, Portugal, the UK and other European nations lie dozens of giant ships packed full of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Cooled to roughly -160C for transportation, the fossil fuel is in very high demand. Yet the ships remain at sea with their prized cargo.
After invading Ukraine in February, Russia curtailed gas supplies to Europe, sparking an energy crisis that sent the price of gas soaring. That led to fears of energy shortages and eye-watering bills for consumers.
[...] So why are ships loaded with LNG just hanging around Europe, exactly? The answer, as you might have guessed, is a little complicated.
Someone else who has watched the accumulation of vessels is Fraser Carson, a research analyst at Wood Mackenzie. This month, he counted 268 LNG ships on the water worldwide - noticeably above the one-year average of 241. Of those currently at sea, 51 are in the vicinity of Europe.
He explains that European nations plunged into a gas-buying spree over the summer that aimed to fill onshore storage tanks with gas. This was to ensure that heaps of fuel would be available to cover energy needs this winter.
The original target was to fill storage facilities to 80% of their total capacity by 1 November. That target has been met, and exceeded, far ahead of schedule. The latest data suggests storage is now at nearly 95% in total.
Imported LNG has played a key role in getting Europe to this point.
But as LNG continues to be brought ashore, demand for facilities that heat the liquid and turn it back into gas remains high. There aren't very many such plants in Europe, partly because the continent has long relied on gas delivered via pipelines from Russia instead.
On top of this bottleneck, less gas is getting used up in Europe than it otherwise might at present because the weather has been very mild well into October.
Plus, as Antoine Halff, co-founder of Kayrros notes, industrial activities that rely on gas have relaxed. This is something he and his colleagues track by scouring satellite images of factories. "There's been a very dramatic reduction in cement and steel production in Europe," he says.
(Score: 2) by c0lo on Friday October 28 2022, @10:09PM (2 children)
Which would be incredible stupid because it will have too little influence on the tactical situation - a, say, 30 km diameter area will be denied to both of the opponents, too little to influence the entire front. If not used as a pretext to escalate beyond conventional weapons, there's no strategic advantage either.
Playing nasty buggers, the Russian would have a higher tactical advantage if blowing the Nova Kakhovka dam upstream Kherson, the ensuing floods would make an unpassable terrain from the area downstream for at least 6 months. Medium and long term, they'd shoot themselves in the foot letting Crimea without water, but if the Ukranian army captures Kherson and starts advancing south, you can bet the Russians will do it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday October 28 2022, @11:37PM (1 child)
They're also gearing up diplomatic cover to do that, yes.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Sunday October 30 2022, @08:29AM
Any diplomatic option and credibility the Russians had went out the window a long, long while ago. At this point, Putin could claim that at noon the sun is in the sky and nobody would believe it without going outside to take a look for themselves.