On May 2, prospective exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) NextDecade announced the signing of a 15-year sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with French utility Engie. It was a significant event for two reasons.
A former Scottish energy minister has broken ranks with the SNP-led government to suggest the UK needs more gas fields, in the face of environmental opposition. [Gas in Transition, Volume 2, Issue 3]
consequences of that. the risk of full scale invasion set off a scramble to ensure natural gas supplies. biden officials telling cnn that the united states has been in discussions with multiple companies and countries in europe, north africa, middle east and asia about stepping up supply of natural gas in the event of an invasion. remember, russia is an energy powerhouse. number two natural gas producer on the planet. more in the year that be the next three countries and not just that, europe is russia s biggest customer. russia provides more than 40% of europe s natural gas and you know, that gives moscow a lot of leverage here. that s why the biden administration is putting together contingency plans to redirect and boost supplies and u.s. officials said talks include both norway and qatar. there s a few ways that we could see supply get threatened here. one, the west could decide to really hit russia where it hurts
in the wrong direction, and russia s invasion of ukraine is only going to make it worse. as you mention a 40-year high for headline inflation. we ve seen record price increases in february for anything for breakfast sausage and lunch meat to chicken and baby food, new cars and trucks, men s apparel. it really is across the board. and we know that inflation was very high heading into this period. a lot of that has to do with covid disruptions and the economic recovery from covid. and now you have this situation in ukraine. russia is an energy powerhouse. it was the number 2 producer of oil in the world last year. we ve seen oil prices skyrocket. gasoline prices have gone up to record highs. they re probably not done rising just yet, and so that means that inflation is only going to get worse, most likely, in march.