No fuel for us, thank you, we're British
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Energy chiefs have warned that Britain is facing a deepening national crisis after gas prices soared to record levels following a sharp fall in European imports from Russia.
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The energy price cap for households is expected to climb above £2,000 in April in the wake of the surge, up 56pc on current levels and 75pc higher than it was in September in a blow for millions of consumers.
England’s pols are in a tough spot: They and their Greens want sky-high energy prices so that demand will drop, and the sheeple will be forced to accept the move to wind-generated, gold-plated electricity costs. And to achieve that end they have worked hard to ensure that supplies are curtailed. But many of the politicians’ voting constituents have grown accustomed to central heat, and demand to be able to afford it. As is usual for politicians, the oligarchs have attempted to please both constituencies by slashing domestic production of gas, thereby making the country dependent on foreign imports, while placing price controls on gas companies so that the charge to consumers stays low.
But with no source of domestic supply, the gas companies must import the stuff from countries where it’s still produced. That need has increased worldwide demand and, surprise! The cost has soared, and with companies forbidden to rise the prices they charge consumers, the inevitable result — bankruptcy — has arrived.
26 UK retail energy suppliers have gone bust since August because the cap prevents them from passing higher costs on to their customers, while a host of other businesses in energy and beyond are struggling.
The Brit’s solution will inevitably what ours will be: subsidize the old companies just enough to keep them operating, albeit at a sharply-reduced level, and keep consumer prices just below the screaming, people’s revolt level. In the US, where oil companies are hated, our government to will just give homeowners a direct check to pay for heat, and get it back through inflation and increased taxes. Voters being what they are, most won’t notice the slight-of-hand.
Meanwhile, across the Channel, European countries own demand for energy, a demand that can’t be met — surprise again! ‚— by windmills and solar beanies, have increased their own imports, regardless of price. And because, so far, they can pass their new, higher costs onto consumers, the international market has responded as it does when free from political interference, and begun to ship less gas to Asia and more to Europe.
According to Reuters “at least 10 cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) have recently been diverted from Asia to head west, drawn by Europe’s record high prices.” And more is on the way.
"In many cases cargoes are turning around in the middle of a voyage and heading to the highest price markets in Europe, as the market differentials have extended beyond $4/mmBtu," said Felix Booth, head of LNG at energy intelligence firm Vortexa.
He added that this reversed the typical winter LNG market structure, with Europe being the most attractive market for flexible cargos, after Asia has typically held this title during the coldest months.
Back in England, a few politicians have noticed a bit of cause and effect operating to the detriment of the little people:
Iain Duncan Smith blamed Russian president Vladimir Putin for 'driving up prices' by restricting supply and said Europe was 'in his hands'. He insisted Boris Johnson should be telling 'crusties' objecting to exploiting the UK's resources to 'get lost'.'The answer is very simple. We should be getting our own gas,' he told MailOnline.
'We are sitting on an island on top of gas and oil. We used to be net exporters, we are now net importers and it's not because we've run out - it's because successive governments stopped exploration and stopped development.
'So the result is now that we are reliant on dodgy regimes like Putin and others for our gas, and that may salve the conscience of a few fanatical environmentalists, who don't want the UK to get gas.
'But we still require gas, otherwise we shut down. And that means we've made ourselves reliant on these dodgy regimes.'
Sir Iain pointed to supplies in the North Sea as well as untapped shale gas on land.
'Why would we allow Putin and these other dangerous leaders to hold us to ransom when we have our own oil and gas?' he said. 'These guys will drive up the price by cutting supply.
'Who the hell wants to be in the hands of that despotic man Putin or in the hands of the Chinese or in the hands of the Belarusians, or in some of the dodgy regimes that exist in other parts of the world where we're having to try and beg borrow or steal gas?'
'Just tell these crusties that spend their time protesting they still live off gas, even if they don't like it,' he added.
All of which was totally predictable, just as America’s own policies to smash oil are. Over at Powerline, John Hinderaker has some thoughts:
You might think that nothing could be stupider than turning over to Vladimir Putin your citizens’ ability to heat their homes, but you would be wrong. Here in the U.S., we are doing something even dumber. We have more oil and gas than any other country, including Russia, and for a brief shining moment during the Trump administration we were fully developing those resources, and we became energy independent with a healthy export business.
Under Joe Biden, things are different: our government is shutting down oil and gas production wherever it can, while at the same time begging the oil companies to continue fueling America’s economy for just a little while longer before they are driven out of business.
Instead of petroleum, the Biden administration wants our economy to run on solar panels, wind turbines and mythical batteries–a pipe dream that will never come true, as the laws of physics don’t permit it. But in the meantime, the Biden administration means to turn over energy production, and thus our economy, to the Chinese Communist Party, which dominates production and processing of the products and materials needed for the electrified economy that liberals say is the future.
So don’t scorn the Europeans for turning their economies over to Vladimir Putin. What we are doing with the Chinese Communist Party is worse. I don’t think that Joe Biden is a Communist Chinese agent, if only because he is not smart enough for that, and I think it is unlikely that he is being blackmailed by Chairman Xi, although that is possible. I think it is more likely that Biden is so clueless, and the Democratic Party’s funders are so concentrated in the “green energy”–i.e., Communist Chinese Party–sector, that they simply don’t know or care about our country’s future.
Hinderaker is right, but I do disagree with his final conclusion, in which he attributes Biden’s handlers’ attack on the oil companies to indifference and ignorance. Usually, Hanlon’s Razor Rule can be applied to actions of politicians: “Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity”. In this case, the consequences of what they’re doing will be so huge, and so disastrous that I’m going with malice.
