For the next few years, there will be a big difference in energy consumption and policies for the U.S. and Europe.
Key details
The major difference is the U.S. will be focusing on keeping prices down and limiting exports to keep supply available.
Europe, on the other hand, looks to be rationing for the next few years, according to presentations at the Offshore Northern Seas Energy Conference, currently underway in Norway.
In Europe, governments are rationing and urging companies to put energy saving plans in place. French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne is continuously warning companies of the incoming energy ration.
The main goal of the conference is to bring energy-company CEOs together to boost initiatives and address the world’s most pressing energy concerns.
“It may well be that we have a number of winters where we have to somehow find solutions through efficiency savings, through rationing and … a very, very quick build out of alternatives,” says Shell CEO Ben Van Beurden.
Why it matters
Recently, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said U.S. oil refiners need to build up capacity and reduce exports of refined products ahead of the winter months.
She says diesel inventories along the East Coast have fallen to nearly 50% below the five-year average.
“Given the historic level of U.S. refined product exports, I again urge you to focus in the near term on building inventories in the United States, rather than selling down current stocks and further increasing exports,” she wrote in a statement.
Borne said the government was working with industry organizations to help limit the impact of the potential rationing and is preparing measures to help support the companies that are impacted the most.
Presenters also emphasized that both energy companies and governments will need to focus on all sources of energy—nuclear, gas, and oil in addition to new alternatives.
In short, this divergence is likely to benefit the U.S. and be a drag on the economies of Europe, while at the same time, aiding in the development of new and existing energy sources.
Backing up a bit
Russia is slowly being phased out by the U.K. amid its invasion of Ukraine.
In June, five months into Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.K. imported no fuel from Russia for the first time ever recorded. The U.K. government has planned to phase out all Russian purchases of natural gas and oil after its invasion of Ukraine, and June was a success.
Before Russia invaded Ukraine, they were the number one supplier of refined oil for the U.K. Russia accounted for 24.1% of all imports of refined oil as well as 5.9% of the UK’s crude oil imports, and 4.9% of gas imports.
The U.K. phasing out Russian imports is one of the leading factors of its incoming energy rations.
