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The German press agency learned this at the weekend from EU diplomats in Brussels. Federal Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has also confirmed that Germany supports an oil embargo against Russia. One is now “prepared” to do without Russian oil for several years, said the Greens politician on ARD. The background is new supply contracts. A few weeks ago, an immediate delivery stop would not have been possible, Baerbock said.
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The “Second Progress Report on Energy Security” published by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection on Sunday shows that a ban on Russian oil imports would now be easier for Germany to cope with than it was before the start of the Ukraine war. Accordingly, in the past few weeks Germany has reduced its dependence on Russian oil and Russian coal in particular.
There has also been progress with natural gas, but the share of Russian gas in German consumption is still large. A new law is intended to remedy the gas problem, the design of which took shape over the weekend.
But first back to the oil: In the most recent preliminary talks on a sixth EU sanctions package against Russia as a reaction to the invasion of Russian troops in Ukraine, Berlin clearly spoke out in favor of the introduction of an embargo, as dpa learned. A corresponding decision by the European Union has thus become much more likely, according to EU diplomats.
Only Hungary, Austria and Slovakia as well as Spain, Italy and Greece are considered to be the brakes on the subject of the lembargo. According to diplomats, countries such as Slovakia and Hungary have so far opposed an immediate import ban, primarily because of their high dependency on Russian oil supplies.
The next few days will probably show how the embargo plans will continue. According to dpa information, the EU Commission, led by Ursula von der Leyen, wants to present the draft for a new package of sanctions against Russia as soon as possible in order to increase the pressure on the government in Moscow because of the war against Ukraine . According to estimates by the Bruegel think tank, Russian oil worth around 450 million euros was recently imported into the EU every day.
The reason for Germany’s change of course on the oil embargo is likely to be the recent successes in reducing Germany’s energy dependence on Russia. In the last few weeks there has been progress, particularly with oil and coal, as the “Second Progress Report on Energy Security” shows.
Dependence on Russian oil has fallen from about 35 percent last year to 12 percent. This means that in 2021 around 35 percent of German oil consumption came from Russia, now only 12 percent. Dependence on Russian gas fell from 55 percent to about 35 percent. In the case of coal, the dependency on coal has fallen from 50 percent to around 8 percent since the beginning of the year as a result of contract changes. The EU had introduced an import ban on Russian coal with a transitional period.
“All of these steps that we are taking require an enormous joint effort by all those involved, and they also mean costs that both the economy and consumers feel,” said Economics and Climate Protection Minister Robert Habeck (Greens).
The ministry presented the first progress report at the end of March. In the case of Russian oil, contracts were therefore not extended by the mineral oil industry or they expired. “Ending dependence on Russian crude imports by late summer is realistic,” says the report.
In East Germany in particular, the process of becoming completely independent of Russian oil is demanding. This applies above all to the refinery in Schwedt, which, according to the report, continues to only purchase Russian crude. “Since it is majority owned by the Russian state-owned company Rosneft, a voluntary termination of the supply relationship with Russia is not to be expected,” it said.
According to the report, it will take the longest to end Germany’s dependence on Russian gas. By mid-April it had dropped to around 35 percent. On the other hand, natural gas supplies from Norway and the Netherlands have increased and imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) have “significantly” increased.
A key component: as early as 2022 and 2023, several floating terminals for the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by ship are to be put into operation in Germany. Other land-based LNG terminals are in the planning process. Among others, Brunsbttel in Schleswig-Holstein, Wilhelmshaven and Stade in Lower Saxony or Rostock in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are under discussion. LPG has the advantage that it can be imported by sea from different countries and is not tied to the pipelines from Russia.
In exchange with the environment and justice ministries, the Federal Ministry of Economics has developed a draft law for the acceleration of LNG projects in northern Germany and submitted it to the departmental vote, as the dpa learned from circles in the Ministry of Economics.
Specifically, approval authorities should be able to temporarily suspend certain requirements, such as environmental impact assessments, under special conditions. The law will apply to floating and land-based LNG import terminals, which are expected to be approved and commissioned more quickly. Special infrastructure is required for both variants, for example they have to be connected to the natural gas pipeline network and some port facilities have to be adapted for this. In contrast to the stationary systems, the floating landing and storage platforms, so-called Floating Storage and Regasification Units (FSRU), can be installed more quickly.
Jrg-Andreas Krger, President of the German Nature Conservation Union (Nabu), criticized the planned law: “In the North Sea and Wadden Sea we are moving in extremely sensitive ecosystems and in the natural world heritage site. Instead of rushing to ignore potential damage to the environment, environmental risks should be planning must be taken into account.”
/aha/DP/he
BRSSEL (dpa-AFX)
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