With a surge in natural gas price and coal prices by as much as four times of what they were a year ago, and energy crunch being experienced in India, China and Europe, Russia seems poised to reap huge political and economic benefits.
Several Indian states reportedly witnessed power outages in October which sometimes lasts up to 14 hours a day. Coal shortages also stokes fear as supplies struggle to keep up with burgeoning demand for electricity in an economy that is just slowly getting out of the Covid-19 pandemic economic lockdown.
Several Chinese provinces have also suffered blackouts in recent weeks as coal supplies fall short of demand. Europe is also battling with a rise in electricity cost as supply of natural gas fails to meet the needs of economies that are finally beginning to move after months of the COVID-19 lockdown.
Amidst the global energy crunch, Russia stands equiped to save these countries.
Russian energy giant Gazprom is expected to supply 10 billion cubic metres of natural gas to China via the China – Russian east route pipeline.
Russia is also committed to sending up to 40 million tonnes of coal to India every year.
Europe is already pleading with Russia for additional gas from Gazprom beyond what the state-run firm is contractually obliged to supply.
