Anatomy of an energy crisis: now what?

Sanctions fallout and mass fuel poverty predictions overwhelm emergency handouts that won’t touch the sides. So what do we do now, asks Kate Hughes

Among those in Brussels on Tuesday for the extraordinary meeting of EU leaders to discuss Ukraine, energy and food security are (from left) Italian premier Mario Draghi, European Council president Charles Michel, Belgium’s prime minister Alexander de Croo, and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen (AP)

The great and the good of the EU had barely left the room after that big, if compromised, decision to ban most crude imports from Russia before oil prices jumped to a two-month high.

Within minutes, analysts were warning that a complete shutdown of Russian oil could drive prices to yet more record highs and though no sanctions have yet been announced on gas exports, there has been widespread speculation over the chances of Russia clamping down on gas supply in retaliation to recent allied moves. The need for energy rationing next winter was already being mooted even before the deal was struck.

Though few are comfortable with the idea that oil and gas purchases have been and continue to provide state funding to Russia, UK consumers will now have to wait to see what the impact will be on fuel bills millions of us already can’t afford.