Russia is turning off some of Germany's gas supplies over Shell's refusal to pay in rubles, but this is unlikely to have a significant impact on Germany's energy security.
Germany is heavily reliant on Russian natural gas and both economists and government officials have warned of what could happen if Putin cuts off supplies.
According to the German network agency, Russia and other former Soviet states supplied more than two-thirds of Germany's gas imports in 2020.
If Russian gas imports were halted, Germany would lose 220 billion euros in economic output, or 6.5% of its gross domestic product. The CEO ofDeutsche Bank said that a recession in Germany would be unavoidable.
The announcement about Russia suspending supplies only covers a small amount of Germany&s natural gas consumption. The move only affects gas supplied to Germany by Shell from Russia's Gazprom.
The German ministry for economy and climate says the country consumed 95 billion cubic meters of natural gas in 2016 Germany still consumes the same amount of natural gas. According to these figures, only 1.3% of the country's gas consumption is supplied by Shell.
In fact, gas made up only 25% of Germany's total energy consumption in 2019.
Germany is in the process of rapidly reducing its energy dependency on Russia and broadening its energy supply, the country's ministry for economy and climate said in May.
Western nations are moving away from Russian energy sources after the country invaded Ukraine. Some have imposed sanctions on Russia's energy sector in order to cut off funding for its military.
Around 45% of Germany's gas came from Germany, according to Germany. The economy and climate ministry said that by April this had fallen to 35%.
The company imported more natural gas from Norway and the Netherlands to plug the gap. Consumers and businesses have been urged to cut down on their oil and gas consumption.
In March, Germany said that Russian imports could make up 10% of its natural gas consumption by the summer of 2024.
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