1.09.2007

Russia, Belarus and Oil

Russia is accusing Belarus of diverting some of the oil flowing through its pipelines. It seems that the pressure in the oil pipeline going through Belarus had dropped noticeably. Russia is blaming Belarus for this because they think Belarus is siphoning off oil from the pipeline going through their country.

Germany and Poland are reliant on Russia's oil as well as other European countries, so this is a big deal. The Polish Economy Ministry assured everyone publicly that Poland had enough reserves right now and there was no need for worry.

The keyword here is PANIC. There needs not to be a PANIC about OIL in EUROPE. It is that panic that Russia is playing with.

So what can be done? What would really happen if Russia cut its oil supplies to Europe? Would they honestly sit by and let thousands of people freeze to death? Perhaps. One thing that would definitely happen is that Europe would find an alternative to oil as fast as possible. Russia would become an international pariah. I doubt Putin really cares about that. He just misses seeing the fear in their eyes.

7 comments:

Jandi for The Fuzz said...

Apparently it's time to reconsider the Nuclear Option.

Econo-Girl said...

Fuzz! Old habits die hard, I guess. And wouldn't it be ironic if a nuclear war with Russia happened AFTER the Cold War ended?

The Lazy Iguana said...

Nuking your oil supplier would help how?

That would be like me burning down the closest gas station to my house because they limit the amount I can buy after a hurricane.

Jandi for The Fuzz said...

Nuclear Power, not bombs. It's not foolproof but may even help with that "climate change" stuff.

Econo-Girl said...

Of course! Nuclear power! That would solve the problem to a large degree.

The Lazy Iguana said...

Oh nuke power plants! See I was thinking of other sorts of nukes.

Now, if we can just devise a way to contain all that hot waste for tens of thousands of years.

Jandi for The Fuzz said...

There's no easy way out, is there.