13/01/2022 (Agence Europe) – The executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, pointed the finger at the role Russia is playing in Europe's soaring energy prices in a note published on LinkedIn on Thursday 13 January. “We see strong elements of ‘artificial tightness’ in European gas markets, which appears to be due to the behaviour of Russia’s state-controlled gas supplier(Gazprom). Unlike other pipeline suppliers – such as Algeria, Azerbaijan and Norway – Russia has reduced its exports to Europe by 25% in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared with the same period in 2020 – and by 22% compared with its 2019 levels”, said Birol. According to the IEA, Russia could increase its deliveries to Europe by at least a third, which would be equivalent to almost 10% of the EU's average monthly gas consumption. See the note: https://bit.ly/3FnWh75 (DG)