No doubt the Energy Suppliers in the UK will be quick to raise household bills to match the rise in wholesale prices.
What a shame the so-called 'price-lag' only seems to exist when prices are falling!
Such profiteering in what ought to be a nationalised industry is nothing short of criminal!

A Mark, Birmingham,

European must be absolutely mad to put so many energy eggs in the Russian basket!

Andre, New York, USA

Nordstream across Baltic would be one of the solutions - unfortunately, this still leaves Russia in equation, and would have to overcome a number of objections from Baltic states.
Nabucco, to which Russia, is understandably opposed, would provide a meaningful alternative

Danylo H, etobicoke, canada

Hey Terry from Jonesville, they are talking about natural gas not gasoline. we dont get any natural gas from the middle east. we get natural gas from our own wells and most comes from canada.

Don, Bettendorf, USA

Hm. Why not to send EU representatives to Russian compressor stations to check how much of gas is pumped into system and then compare it with output in EU side? It will clearly show who are the bad guys in this situation.

Alex, Moscow, Russia

Terry - "gas" in the UK means just that, a vaporous substance used mostly for heating and cooking, not the liquid gasoline you get from the Middle East for your car. Maybe the US needs to learn a bit more about the rest of the world before expecting it to bend to America's every need.

John Stitch, London,

@ Terry: you do realize that the "gas" in question here is natural gas (like on your stove) not "gasoline" that you put into your car..

Buffie , Windsor, UK

Can we not produce our own gas? I read that we can produce methane gas from waste, why can't we produce our own gas supply this way? Let Russia and Putin go to hell and release ourselves from their grasp.

Mark, Venice, Italy

I am surprised everybody is blaming Russia for this. How can EU ignore the fact that Ukraine is refusing to honour its WRITTEN CONTRACTS, as a transit country? Or is it another a case of favoritism, when one "difficult child" is allowed to misbehave while the other is guilty be definition?

Peter, Toronto, Canada

So what muppets decided to sell our gas cheap because we had no means to store it apparantly it would have been too expensive to build storage containers!
May-be a bit more expensive now?
We should not on any account be dependant on any other country for energy. Time to open the coal mines.

Caroline, East Sussex, England

The problem does not lie with all the people of countries, it simply is the heads of the country becoming greedy. The economy of the world is faltering and its resources becoming scarce. The flexing of power by russia can only worsen it in a time when we can not afford it.

Jon Doe, springfeild, USA

No, no, wouldn't want to rely on Russia for anything. Not trusting. (Not the that the Arab nations are either) In the dead of winter, is it really okay for them to take to this action? No, I live in NW Minnesota (very cold) and electric/gas companies cannot do this in winter. It's not humane.

Joyce, Thief River FAlls, USA

Now it is so evident that we all need both the North and the South Streams. After 2013 such a situation when a transitter is blackmailing the whole Continent will be unreal. But right now best if the West forget for a while it's traditional Rusofobia and acts rationally.

Rote Kapelle, Moscow, Russia

We have all kinds of gas in Alaska. Exxon has been holding it hostage for 20 years. We are finally in the process of trying to take it back, and finding other companies that are willing to build a pipeline across Canada. Alaskans prefer an all Alaska line and liquefying it for transport.

Mike McKinnon, Anchorage, USA

North Sea is largely oil-producing. Also, I don't think diversifying our gas supplies between Middle Eastern and Russian supplies makes much sense, as Russia experiences frequent disputes with its customers and has shown itself as less reliable than the Middle East.

Brad, Houston, Texas

@ Terry Graham
Do you think that Russia is exhibiting the type of stability and actions that you would hope to find in a would be business partner(especially of a resource such as natural gas)? Russia continues to use scare tactics and make moves of dubious justification to achieve its own ends

Kansai, Oita, Japan

We know what happened to the North sea supply we sold it on cheaply. So we could buy it back at twice the price. We're so clever-not.
Our so called Government have'nt the faintest idea!
Trouble is who do we vote for?

C O'Brien, Robertsbridge, England

Most of EU leadership has bought into the "carbon bad--causes global warming" hysteria. EU penalizes its own citizens and its own economy to cut carbon emissions. With much of the gas supply cut off, that should curtail a chunk of the carbon emissions. Are EU leaders secretly gleeful about this?

Terry L. Walker, Ladson, SC / USA

Your North Sea supplies have been drying up Len. It's called being a finite resource, as in there is not an infinite supply of natural gas under the North Sea, and lately the production has been going into irreversible decline.
Those are reasons for your higher prices, not excuses.

Peter, Chicago, USA

Yes, North Sea sources seem to be the logical route to insure less dependency in the future. If alternative power generation can be on line by 2025 - all the better. Same reasoning applies for U.S.energy expansion & conversion. May god have mercy on our energy dependent souls.

Maxx Stryker, Dearborn, US

Ivan will always get you in the winter...

Matt, Baltimore, USA

Your North Sea supplies go to China for a big profit. lol

steve, London, UK

I don't know who is really to blame - Ukraine and Russia for causing the supplies shortage, or our own government who has failed to develop alternative energy system accross Bulgaria. What I know is that my less than 2 yearold nephew sleeps now in a sleeping bag, so he wouldn't get cold.

Dafar, Sofia, Bulgaria

If Russia can supply gas to so many countries, why not the USA? I'm tired of relying on the Arab nations for our gas. Perhaps the middle east countries need to see that the USA does not have to purchase from them and therefore create a more equitable market for the consumer.

Terry Graham, Jonesville, USA

In 1982, the U.S. argued that Western involvement in the Soviet gas link would make W. Europe too dependent upon the U.S.S.R. (now Russia) for much of its energy supplies. This seems to have come to pass.

Andrew, Cincinnati, USA

Excuses by our government and greedy energy companies to put our prices up again, Russian gas? What about our north sea supplies?

Len, Oban, UK