US-German gas trade war: the US trap

Let’s face it: if the price of gas is rising, if families can’t pay their bills, if industries are being forced to close down, if we are living this nightmare today, it is because of a trade war that the United States is waging to benefit its own industries. Let us see why.

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline is a doubling of Nord Stream and would lead to a large increase in the amount of gas coming from Russia to Germany and Europe via the Baltic Sea. It was completed in November 2021 but suspended due to pressure from the United States. In fact, Washington has always opposed the construction of this pipeline. For example, Trump did so in 2019 by imposing strict sanctions on companies involved in the work.

According to George Friedman, political scientist and analyst, president of the US intelligence agency Stratfor and government advisor: ‘For the United States, the primordial fear is… German technology and German capital, Russia’s natural resources, Russian manpower, as the only combination that has for centuries scared the hell out of the United States’. This collaboration would lead to a loss of power and control over Europe; the Germany (Europe) – Russia axis cannot be allowed!

The price of gas began to rise following the suspension of Nord Stream 2. In fact, in recent months the Russians have continued to honour their gas supply contracts without changing either the quantity or the price. Many experts say that there has been speculation on the part of the storage companies, which, seeing their reserves depleted and uncertain about the future, have raised prices. But it is more likely to be a deliberate move for several reasons:

1. to prevent Russia’s cooperation with Europe and in particular with Germany. 2. to sell its own shale gas.

The United States is perhaps the largest producer of gas, known as Natural Gas Liquids (NGL), thanks to a technique called fracking that obtains this fuel from the fragmentation of shale rocks, a highly polluting and dangerous technique. This liquid gas is transported by ship and then turned back into gaseous form. The US would like to replace Russia in the supply of gas to Europe, even though NGL is 2-3 times more expensive.

Now we understand the trap that the US has built: threatening to invade the Donbass to repress the Russian minority (which in reality is almost a majority in that region) in order to provoke Russia’s reaction. Then new sanctions would be triggered and the final closure of Nord Stream 2 would be justified. Europe would be left with no alternative but to supply itself with American shale gas.

In short, the interests of Europe and the United States do not coincide. We can also say that in reality we are not in the presence of a war between Russia and Ukraine, as Washington’s propaganda would have us believe, but rather an indirect war between the United States and Europe.

Gerardo Femina
Europa for Peace

Photo: © Nord Stream 2 / Nikolai Ryutin