The
G7 countries have decided to introduce a ceiling on the price of Russian oil
, to cut Moscow's revenues and limit the impact of the war on energy prices.
At first, the Kremlin reacted by guaranteeing that it will not sell oil to those who apply the 'price cap'.
In the evening
Gazprom
announced that the
Nord Stream
, the main pipeline for the transport of Russian gas to Western Europe, will not restart on Saturday, as it was expected after three days of maintenance: after the "failures and damage" identified, he said, "gas transportation" has been "completely stopped".
In a well-established script for Moscow's announcements, therefore, the specter of a total stop of Russian gas returns.
After all, only a few hours earlier, the President of the European Commission
Ursula von der Leyen
had said to herself "of the firm belief that
it is time for a ceiling on the price of gas from Russian gas pipelines in Europe
".
Laconica immediately received a reply from the 'hawk' Dmitry
Medvedev,
deputy head of the Russian Security Council and former president: if the EU imposes a 'price cap', Russian gas "will no longer exist" in Europe.
Just the wait for the restart of the Nord Stream on Saturday had sent gas prices into free fall, with Ttf futures, reference for the price of natural gas in Europe, down 11.7% to 214 euros.
With respect to the oil ceiling decided by the G7, it remains to be understood what modality it will have, what the threshold will be, and above all how the other large oil buyers, such as India and China, will react.
As for the work in the EU to combat energy prices, the priority, von der Leyen pointed out, remains that of saving energy, "especially at peak times".
It will then be necessary to use some of the extra profits of electricity producers to support the most vulnerable individuals and activities.
In the medium term, then, the configuration of the electricity market will have to be reviewed by evaluating, for example, the 'decoupling', that is, to decouple the price of gas from that of electricity, as well as making massive investments in renewables.
The possible moves on which the Commission is working for now, according to a non-paper circulated in Brussels, include an electricity savings plan similar to the one on gas savings already fired by the EU, the introduction of a limit of price for 'inframarginal' electricity generation technologies (those with lower costs such as renewables, nuclear and coal,
because they generated extra profits thanks to high gas prices).
From here would come the funds to finance interventions on retail prices.
However, the wait is for the discussion at the extraordinary Council of energy ministers on 9 September.
Von der Leyen could then announce some specific measures already in the speech on the State of the Union of 14 September.
Returning to the G7, he expressed after the commitment made at the Elmau summit to prevent Russia from profiting from the war on Ukraine, he confirmed "the joint political intention to finalize and implement an overall blockade to services that allow maritime transport. of crude oil and petroleum products of Russian origin in the world. The provision of such services would be permitted only if the petroleum and petroleum products were purchased at a price equal to or below a value ("price cap") determined by the
"The Russian blackmail is clear to everyone, among other things the increase in prices established by the TTF favored the Russians because they gave us less gas at a higher price", allowing them to "earn a lot of money with which to finance the war. "Ecological Transition Minister
Roberto Cingolani
told Tg1 at the threat from Russia to eliminate gas flows to Europe.
"Russia cannot suspend supplies so quickly because it has no other pipeline where to put this gas and sell it elsewhere. It's a game of poker."
The intervention planned next week by the government will be worth "one or two billion"
to
"allow immediate energy and gas at a controlled price", said the Minister of Tourism,
Massimo Garavaglia
.
It is a "buffer intervention" which "is no small thing".
"The main lines of Minister Cingolani", Garvaglia explained, envisage "two decrees that go in favor of energy-eaters and gasivores".
"As early as next week, the Government will implement measures that will lower the costs of the energy bill, the goal is to recover purchasing power. Italy has been asking for a ceiling on the price of gas for months, not everyone agreed. EU but things are changing ",
THE POLITICAL DEBATE
"At this moment Italy has two priority emergencies to resolve. Immediate interventions are needed to block the increases in electricity and gas, but also to stop sending the tax bills from the Revenue Agency."
Thus the leader of the League,
Matteo Salvini
.
"I don't want to win the elections with a country on its knees and a million more unemployed. There is a government still in office, proceed. As did France, which allocated 30 billion immediately," Salvini said.
"There are entrepreneurs who are deciding whether to close or whether to go into debt to close at the end of the year and this is not possible".
Thus the Foreign Minister and leader of Civic Engagement,
Luigi Di Maio
on the sidelines of the Ambrosetti Forum.
It is a "moment of great suffering for our Italian companies, from the smallest business to the largest manufacturing company - adds the minister - everyone is suffering from the price of energy that derives from Putin's blackmail to Europe, from the game he plays in reduce the quantities of gas which then allow strong speculation at the Ttf in Amsterdam ".
As for the hypothesis of an energy rationing, Di Maio replies that "the only rationing I want to do at the moment is on the bills of Italian companies. Paying Italian bills for 80%, otherwise companies, rationing or no, they won't be able to face autumn, not even winter ".
"I am in complete agreement on the price cap: we have guaranteed the government maximum support in a battle that we consider fundamental. In the last few hours I have become a little more optimistic than in recent days".
The leader of Fdi
Giorgia Meloni
said on the sidelines of the electoral rally in Cagliari.
"We will do what we can to lend a hand to Italy in this sense - he added, answering a single question from a reporter - I think we can work at the Italian level to disconnect the price of electricity from that of gas. This would involve a significant and immediate decrease in bills ".
