The 27-nation EU gets about 40 percent of its gas supplies from Russia, making it difficult to stop buying overnight.

 

But, Soros said, the EU is also a very important market for the Kremlin, and Putin needs gas revenue to support his economy.

 

“It is estimated that Russia’s storage capacity will be full by July,” he said. “Europe is his only market, and if he doesn’t supply Europe with gas, he will have to shut down gas wells in Siberia, involving about 12,000 gas wells. … It takes time to close them, and once they are closed, they are very difficult to reopen because of old equipment.”

 

He added that Europe needs to prepare urgently before using its bargaining power. “If you don’t do that, the pain of a sudden shutdown will be very politically unbearable,” he said. “Europe should impose a heavy tax on imported gas so that consumers don’t get lower prices.”

 

Energy Aspects partner Leon Izbicki agrees that Russia’s gas reserves are nearing full capacity. “Last winter, Russia’s reserves reached a record of about 72.6 billion cubic meters, and there are plans to increase underground reserves to 72.7 billion cubic meters in winter 2022,” he added in the email. “Although we don’t know what Russia’s underground reserves are. Russia seems to be on track to get there this summer.” He added that Russia lacks flexibility in gas storage and lacks pipeline infrastructure to divert gas from Europe to places like Asia.