European Union nations have spent over an extra 100 billion euros ($113.5 billion) on energy imports since the outbreak of the Iran war, pushing politicians to seek alternatives to fossil fuels as prices skyrocket.
Axar.az reports, citing The Associated Press, that consumers in some European countries pay nearly 50% more at the pump, equivalent to more than $11 a gallon, following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the crucial waterway through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil passed in peacetime.
“Times are serious,” said EU energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen during a gathering in Dublin of energy ministers from across the 27-nation bloc. Despite the additional money spent, the members haven’t received “one extra molecule of gas or oil.”
Jorgensen said the ministers would discuss plans to accelerate the shift from fossil fuels to electricity and expand electrical infrastructure across the bloc, which became highly dependent on the U.S. for direct energy imports after ending its historic reliance on Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Source: en.axar.az
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