Due to the ongoing geopolitical crisis, the EU member states have set up a purchasing platform for gas, LNG and hydrogen. In this way, one wants to become more independent of Russian energy imports and react against the strong price fluctuations of natural gas.

По состоянию на 1 мая 2022 г. объем ФНБ составил 11 005 374,1 млн. рублей, что эквивалентно 154 953,5 млн. долл. США,

The energy package due this week may include measures to address the increasing household costs and energy poverty.

Russia’s share of German crude consumption has already declined to 12% from about 35% before the war in Ukraine, according to the Economy Ministry in Berlin.

European gas prices were trading higher early May 12, with the TTF month-ahead price up at Eur105/MWh ($109.72/MWh) as of 0815 GMT, according to ICE data.

Germany, Russia's top client in Europe, said some subsidiaries of Gazprom Germania were receiving no gas because of the sanctions.

The monthly import profile for April, which following European wholesale front-month trade in March, saw sourcing from all parts of the world intensify, with Europe comfortably receiving its highest-ever volume for a single month. This was, however, paid for at a high price.

Moscow has imposed sanctions on the owner of the Polish part of the Yamal pipeline that carries Russian gas to Europe, as well as Gazprom's former German unit, whose subsidiaries help meet Europe's gas consumption.

Requests via the Velke Kapusany border point in Slovakia were around 512,056 megawatt hours (MWh) per day, down from 856,922 MWh per day earlier on Thursday, data from Slovakian operator TSO Eustream showed.

"We will cooperate to reduce Europe's dependency on energy supplies from Russia and to ensure diversification of energy supply sources, and acknowledge the need for investments to achieve this."

Thus, after the slump in March inflows, Russian crude imports by China's independent refiners recovered 35.7% year on year to 2 million mt in April

Russia supplied about 40% of the European Union’s gas demand last year, and about a third of that transited Ukraine, making it a linchpin in the continent’s energy security.

The EU wants to combine faster deployment of renewables, greater energy savings, diversification of supplies from international partners and new tools to accelerate investment in a bid to replace coal, oil and natural gas from Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

The bloc should have at least 1,000 gigawatts of photovoltaics installed in the region by 2030 -- equivalent to roughly the world’s current capacity -- according to a joint letter signed by Austria, Belgium, Lithuania, Luxembourg and Spain to the bloc’s climate chief Frans Timmermans and Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson.

There have been ongoing talks on the Russian Oil ban by the EU with more developments as the week progresses.