DNA Explainer: How reliant world is on Russian gas, what's the alternate option?

Due to the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine, the West is putting economic sanctions on Russia as a mark of retaliation and trying to put pressure on the country to put down their arms. However, this is not a one way traffic. What is definately going to hurt Russia will also hurt the European countries in the long run.

Angered by the sanctions imposed on his country, Russian President Vladimir Putin has already said that he will stop the supply of gas to the European countries. Most of the gas supply for the European countries comes from Russia. Natural gas from Russia accounts for 40% of EU's gas needs.

Now that the daggers are drawn, what is the alternative option left with the European countries given the present situation. 

Read | Russia-Ukraine war: EU plans to slash Russian gas imports this year, wants to end dependency by 2030

Russia is the world's largest gas producer

Russia is the world's largest producer of gas and third biggest producer of oil.

In 2021, Russia alone sold oil and gas worth USD 100 billion to the world.

Heating prices, which are already high would increase even more with sanctions.

Russian gas accounts for about 40% of European Union's natural gas imports.

If this dried up, Italy and Germany would be especially vulnerable.

Russian gas company Gazprom said pipelines have been damaged in many places.

Due to the war the gas pipelines have been damaged leading to supply been stopped.

What options are there for Europe?

Europe could turn to existing gas exporters such Qatar - or Algeria and Nigeria.

But there are practical obstacles to quickly expanding production to cater to the needs.

Russia provides about 5% of the UK's gas supplies while US doesn't import Russian gas.

Still prices in the UK and US are up significantly due to the knock-on effect of supply shortages.

Europe could possibly import more liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US and others.

Think tank Bruegel has predicted this in case Russia were to stop gas supplies to Europe.

Till 2020, the world's biggest LNG suppliers were Australia, Qatar and the United States.

Among them Qatar is the nearest to Europe. At present it is silent on supplying gas to Europe.

It could also ramp up the use of other energy sources, but doing so is not quick or easy.

Fuel switching such as opening up coal-fired power plants, as Italy and Germany have plans to do.

The EU has proposed a plan to make Europe independent from Russian fossil fuels before 2030.

This includes measures to diversify gas supplies and replace gas in heating and power generation.

Kept oil-gas out of sanctions

In last two weeks the European Union has put several sanctions on Russia but has kept oil and gas out of its ambit.

The United States has already banned import of Russian gas and UK is planning to do so. But EU is keeping out.

Russia itself can stop the supply of gas to Europe while threatening to close a major Nord 1 gas pipeline to Germany.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said the surge in prices could go upto USD 300 per barrel if not more.

From where India gets its supply of gas?

Till 2019, liquefied natural gas (LNG) was supplied to India from Qatar.

India's domestic crude oil production declined by 5.2% and natural gas production by 8.1% till March 2021.

In August 2021, crude oil production decreased by 2.3% but domestic natural gas increased by 20.23%.

At present, gas supply in India comes from countries like Qatar, Russia, Australia, Norway.

What is natural gas?

Natural gas is a fossil energy source that formed deep beneath the Earth's surface.

Natural gas contains many different compounds. The largest component is methane.

Methane is a compound with one carbon atom and four hydrogen atoms (CH4).

Natural gas also contains smaller amounts of natural gas liquids and nonhydrocarbon gases.

Nonhydrocarbon gases include carbon dioxide and water vapour.

We use natural gas as a fuel and to make materials and chemicals.

How natural gas is formed?

It is formed when layers of decomposing plant and animal matter are exposed to intense heat and pressure under the surface of the Earth over millions of years. 

The energy that the plants originally obtained from the sun is stored in the form of chemical bonds in the gas. Natural gas is a fossil fuel.