On a related note:

EU SAYS GAS SUPPLIES DOWN DESPITE GAZPROM CLAIMS

The EU executive said Friday that Russian gas deliveries have fallen in nine countries, with Gazprom invoking flexibility clauses as it also braves a cold snap.

The European Commission was highlighting the drop a day after Russian state gas giant Gazprom said it had increased volumes exported to European Union neighbours amid a sudden drop in temperatures.

With more than 220 lives lost as these temperatures reached new lows, the European Commission said Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania and Slovakia had each registered drops in gas supplies.

A spokeswoman for EU energy commissioner Guenther Oettinger, Marlene Holzer said that “our member states have been informed by the Russian authorities that there is exceptional cold weather, and that Russia needs more gas (for its own use) than normal.”

She added, however, that Gazprom contractual small print with European buyers “allows for a certain flexibility.”

Austria, for instance, had logged a 30 percent fall and Italy had seen deliveries fall by 24 percent, though she noted that stocks were not at an “emergency” level in any of the nine.

Italy’s gas network Snam Rete Gas later said imports from Russia through the Tarvisio hub were down 28.9 percent on Friday, a sharper fall than on Thursday.

[…]

Russia has Europe by the frozen testicles.