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Russia-Ukraine Fallout Won’t Threaten Security Of EU Gas Supply
Even if Russia and Ukraine were to fail to reach an agreement on the natural gas transit through Ukraine onto Europe, the security of gas supply in the European Union (EU) will not be materially threatened, the Institute of Energy Economics (EWI) at the University of Cologne said in a study on Wednesday.
The current ten-year gas transit agreement between Russia and Ukraine expires on December 31, 2019.
The parties need to reach a new agreement by that date to set the terms of deliveries of Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine’s territory.
Russia has been building pipelines to Europe and Turkey that bypass Ukraine—TurkStream and Nord Stream 2. Ukraine, for its part, is a key transit country for Russian gas westwards to Europe and relies on the gas transit fees.
The talks between Ukraine and Gazprom on the gas transit to Europe have been complicated by the tense relationship between Ukraine and Russia.
Several rounds of trilateral talks on a new transit agreement between Russia, Ukraine, and the European Commission have been held since mid-2018, but “neither side is under much pressure to conclude a deal fast,” EWI’s study says.
Even if talks fail to reach an agreement and gas supply via Ukraine is interrupted, as it was in 2009, the EU will not see its gas supply security threatened because of sufficient infrastructure, good market integration, storage inventories high enough to handle additional withdrawals, and liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, according to the study.
Gas storage in Europe is full, as low LNG spot prices amid abundant supply and weaker Asian spot demand have helped Europe to fill its storage tanks to more than average levels this summer.
A possible interruption of supply via Ukraine “would not lead to gas shortfalls (unserved demand) in any of the EU’s member states. Hence, the EU gas market is well prepared for an interruption in terms of security of supply,” the authors of the EWI study said.
In the worst-case scenario with a cold snap and a three-month gas supply interruption, gas prices in EU members will rise, especially in Greece, Bulgaria, and Romania in southeast Europe.
“However, security of supply would not be threatened in any of the EU states, this applies to all scenarios considered”, EWI manager Dr. Simon Schulte said in a statement.
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Russia-Ukraine-Fallout-Wont-Threaten-Security-Of-EU-Gas-Supply.html#
Air Force leaders enthused as Space Force legislation heads to House floor
LOS ANGELES — A bipartisan deal struck between congressional leaders and the White House would allow the Defense Department to establish a U.S. Space Force as a separate military branch. The compromise language in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 will be introduced Dec. 9 and a House vote is scheduled for Dec. 11, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), told attendees at the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley.
Under a deal first reported Dec. 6 by the Wall Street Journal, the White House agreed to grant 12 weeks of paid parental leave to all federal workers in exchange for the Space Force authorization, which has been a high priority for the Trump administration.
“Space Force has been agreed upon for a couple of months as far as the structure,” Rogers said Dec. 7 at the Reagan forum.
Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett, speaking on a panel alongside Rogers, said the Air Force will be ready to start organizing the new branch as soon as legislation is signed. The Space Force would be an independent branch but nested inside the Department of the Air Force, the same way the Marine Corps is part of the Department of the Navy.
A DoD source told SpaceNews that the proposed language would authorize a civilian leader for the Space Force who would report to Barrett and also would create a Senate-confirmable post to oversee Space Force acquisitions.
“We are going to see what the NDAA includes. There is a war room that has started to meet to work this out,” Barrett said. “The whole team is very much devoted to the idea that this is a serious business and we have to get this done … We are going to get this as close to right from the beginning.”
The DoD source said Barrett has been closely monitoring the Air Force’s preparations to stand up a Space Force even though service leaders were not involved in the final negotiations between lawmakers and the White House. According to the source, Barrett is enthusiastic about the prospect of leading a space service and has spoken about it as a historic event and an extraordinary moment for the nation. A new military service has not been created since 1947 when the Air Force was spun off from the Army.
At the Reagan forum, Barrett said: “America has more to lose if there is malicious behavior in space. Where we are is ahead but that lead is shrinking. It is time for us to move forward with the Space Force.”
Rogers, a central player who has advocated for a space service for years, long before Trump embraced the issue, said he was relieved to hear that a compromise had been reached.
“I’ve been glowing for the last day,” he said.
“We have allowed China and Russia to become our peers, not our near peers and that’s unacceptable,” Rogers said. “We have been doing some things short of the Space Force. I feel good but I will feel a lot better in about three or four years.”
Since the administration began its push to create a space service, many lawmakers raised objections due to the cost, estimated to be anywhere from $500 million to $2 billion a year. But Rogers insisted that the Air Force should not do it on the cheap. “We want the secretary to create the best Space Force the world has ever seen,” he said. “If she needs more, tell us and that’s our problem.”
Rogers said he hopes the Space Force will not be loaded with bureaucracy and will serve as a model for the other services. “Space Force can be done leanly,” he said. “We can then replicate that in the other services.”
https://spacenews.com/air-force-leaders-enthused-as-space-force-legislation-heads-to-house-floor/
>Space is fake
and your opinion is based on?