(Wrongo and Ms. Right are sending healing thoughts to friend and blog reader Gloria R.)
There was a small article in the NYT saying that European gas prices had dropped to pre-Ukraine war levels:
âOn Friday, the European benchmark price of gas fell below 50 euros ($53) per megawatt-hour for the first time since late 2021. Prices spiked above âŹ300 per megawatt-hour in mid-2022, as Russia curtailed gas exports to Europe after its invasion of Ukraine.â
This isnât what economists forecasted as the mid-winter energy situation in Europe, which all of a sudden has too much natural gas. It seems Russian gas isnât indispensable to Europe. Natural gas is, but not necessarily Russian gas. Of course, the mild European winter was a big factor. And regional natural-gas inventories, which are at about 65% capacity, on average, are at their highest levels in years, according to a Bloomberg analysis.
Russia and its gas company Gazprom spent decades building the European (and specifically) the German market. The cost was the building of massive infrastructure to move their gas to Europe. Then Russia pissed it all away last February.
At great cost, theyâll eventually build new infrastructure to move all that gas to Asia and elsewhere. On to cartoons.
America has been reduced to this:
Or is it this?
Nikki says we need younger politicians:
Why the balloon story doesnât go away:
More about America’s sickness:
