Don’t Blame Us for Energy Supply Woes, Says Russia

(Reuters) – Russia launched a robust defence of its reliability as an energy supplier on Saturday, saying sky-high oil prices had resulted from soaring demand rather than supply disruptions.

Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin backed Gazprom’s drive into foreign energy markets, and said the gas monopoly was not to blame for a gas price dispute with Ukraine which hit exports to Europe for the first time in 40 years.

“We have quite stable growth of (energy) supply, but we are encountering a demand shock,” Kudrin told a news conference after hosting finance ministers from the Group of Eight nations for talks in St Petersburg.
Reuters South Africa