Russia’s war on Ukraine has upended natural gas prices in the United States. Prices of natural gas have surged to the highest level in an astonishing 13 years today.
The Russian war on Ukraine has caused a massive, shattering global energy crunch. And as forecasts have called for even cooler spring temperatures, the U.S. is fearing a long, cold winter ahead.
Futures jumped ten percent to trade, which is an enormous amount, as high as $8.05 per million British thermal units, and the highest since it has been since September 2008 in the last massive economic recess.
The shift in weather, combined with “bullish shocks” according to stock market experts, has meant that natural gas will likely remain this high through the summer in the U.S. It is being described as being in “overdrive.”
Gas prices in the U.S. have been up this year by a whopping 102 percent. This adds to the concern about inflation and the economy.
In Europe, it is worse even. Natural gas futures have risen in certain parts of Europe even more, especially as the European Union moves away from Russian energy, which was a huge source for the continent.
The concept of energy and energy dependence has been a big conversation as part of the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine. Not only dependence on Russian natural energy sources, but also the global dependence on “natural energy” in general.
A push for green energy has expectedly ensured since the war began, with green energy companies and advocates pointing out that a shift from depending on one country to another is not a long-term strategy, but that the only real strategy is to shift to greener and cleaner energies.
Whether Europe adopts a cleaner, greener strategy remains to be seen, but until then, the pressure is on to move away from Russian natural gas.
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