Deputy Secretary of State for Energy Geoffrey Pyatt said that the United States wants to terminate the Russian Arctic LNG 2 project. speeches in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
“Our goal is to finish this project. “We do this by imposing sanctions and working with our G7 partners,” he said.
According to Pyatt, Washington is looking for ways to reduce Russia’s oil and gas revenues. He explained that the United States uses two mechanisms to achieve this goal: promoting energy transition within the country and around the world to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, as well as systematically working to reduce the Russian Federation’s future profits from exports.
The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs reminded that the United States has imposed sanctions against Arctic LNG 2 and that this will contribute to “the development of Russia as the world’s largest LNG exporter.”
He added that Washington was also working with countries that were “historically dependent on Russian fuel.” According to Pyatt, such efforts are being carried out “very successfully” in Europe and the United States should focus on the “Asian front.”
In addition, the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs found the introduction of price ceilings on energy resources successful: this measure prevents destabilization by keeping Russian fuel on the market, while reducing Russia’s export revenues.
Sanctions against Arctic LNG 2
On November 2, the US Treasury expanded sanctions against Russia; five banks, among them St. About 40 individuals and dozens of legal entities were subject to restrictions, including the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange and Arctic LNG 2 LLC.
Leonid Mikhelson, president of Novatek, which is implementing the Arctic LNG 2 project, called American sanctions “an assessment of professionalism.” He jokingly suggested that the reason for the restrictions was high LNG prices in 2022.
“I like it $30-35 [за 1 млн BTU – British Thermal Unit, британская тепловая единица]. I wish he had stayed. “The fewer projects there are, the higher the prices,” he said.
Russian President Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said the sanctions created “additional problems” for the country, but the Russian Federation “learned to overcome them” and adapted to the restrictions. He emphasized that now all major Russian companies, regardless of their field of activity, protect their investments from possible risks.
The Kremlin spokesman said sanctions pressure on Russia would continue, but added that the country was trying to take advantage of it and “it worked to some extent.”
First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma International Relations Committee Alexey Chepa in a conversation with socialbites.ca suggestedHe said that when the West implemented the sanctions, it expected that “the business world would mobilize, move away from the government, there would be protests in the country, and the economy would stop”, but this did not happen.
The MP expressed the opinion that the West suffers more than Russia “under the yoke of sanctions wars”, comparing sanctions to “a snowball that crushes different countries”.
Japan is under threat
Following the imposition of US sanctions against Arctic LNG 2, the agency Bloomberg He said the restrictions could lead to problems in Japan’s energy sector and deterioration in relations with its Western allies.
The document states that the country considers Russia’s LNG necessary to meet its energy needs. The country uses natural gas to produce about a third of its electricity and heat its homes, according to Bloomberg.
Jogmec, a consortium consisting of the Japanese energy company Mitsui and the organization that ensures the security of supply of metals and energy resources, has a 10% stake in Arctic LNG 2, Japan needs to buy 2 million tons of LNG annually, the agency reported. Russian plant.
at Mitsui statedHe said that they will carefully examine the consequences of the sanctions against the project and take the necessary measures.
“We will comply with laws and regulations, including enforcement measures taken by the international community,” the company emphasized.
Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura reported about the government’s plans to “look into this issue carefully”. He acknowledged that restrictions on Arctic LNG 2 would have “a certain impact” and added that Tokyo planned to engage with G7 countries “to prevent disruptions to stable energy supplies.”