Would Portugal have no difficulty in shutting down Russian gas or oil? | Real
one sentence
“What is difficult is not in the political field, but in the technical and economic field. [porque] there is an asymmetry in the impact of the estimates. Portugal, for example, would have no difficulty in closing off the water from gas or Russian oil tomorrow”.
Statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho, quoted by Agência Lusa.
The context
At the end of the informal meeting of NATO Foreign Affairs ministers, which took place this Sunday in Berlin, João Gomes Cravinho said that Portugal could “close tomorrow to Russian gas or oil”, at a time when the European Union is trying to negotiate an embargo. to Russian oil. “What is difficult is not in the political field, but in the technical and economic field. [porque] there is an asymmetry in the impact of certain countries”, stated ao, with some more dependent than others.
“These countries [mais dependentes] they ask for support, they ask for transitional periods, they ask that there be, on the part of the European Commission, a strong investment in the development of other solutions, namely gas pipelines, oil pipelines and, of course, this does not happen overnight”, he added.
the facts
The Invasion of Ukraine by Russia has made several actions by various countries of the European Union and other countries such as the USA. An attempt is underway to reach an agreement between the two to put an end to Russia’s oil, and the overarching strategy is to make the European bloc independent of Russian energy.
In this context, and unlike others – such as Germany, the Netherlands, Hungary, Slovakia and Italy, Portugal is in fact better positioned to free itself from both Russian oil and gas.
After being, for price reasons, Portugal’s main supplier of oil in 2017 and 2018, Russia ended up disappearing from the list of crude oil suppliers in 2020 and 2021, with Brazil taking the lead last year. , followed by Nigeria (the US also had a relevant presence), according to data from the General Directorate of Energy and Geology (DGEG).
The first time Portugal imported natural gas from Russia was in 2019, corresponding to 2% of the total), according to the latest information from DGEG. Russia has established itself as the third largest supplier of natural gas in the country, but it is far from the supplies of the two main markets, Nigeria and the USA (83% of the total in 2021).
However, not everything is positive. There is the issue of oil derivatives, and although the former socialist executive stated that the “intermediate products that were imported represent” “a small fraction of the total”, and that there are alternatives on the market, in 2021 they were bought from Russia. 348 million euros of these, according to INE, was the main category of products from Russia.
Galp, which has already announced that it would stop buying products of Russian origin, also claims that Russia is responsible for half of the world’s production, one of the raw gas productions used for the production of gas at the Sines refinery. In early March, the Portuguese oil company explained that it was looking for suppliers, and could also “operate a refinery with a limited pace, although ensuring itself without the supply of Portuguese gas”.
Then there is the question of the effects of cutting energy expenditure on Russia, with price increases and negative impacts on the economy, to which Portugal is not immune.
In short
Minister João Gomes Cravinho is right about Portugal’s direct dependence on Russian oil and natural gas in terms of energy supply – this is what the minister is referring to -, but the country is not immune to the impacts of dependence on products. Russian energy sources by several European Union countries.