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Energy blackmail is, as defined by the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS), a strategic manipulation of energy resources for political or economic gain. It involves primarily oil and natural gas, but also potentially other fuels such as nuclear fuel. Energy blackmail has been used by countries to leverage their energy resources for decades, but the term was popularised after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 to refer to Russian statements and actions in respect to its relationship with other states and with the European Union (EU).

History

In 1960 OPEC was founded as a cartel to fix the price of oil on the world market.In 1973 OPEC imposed an embargo on the United States and other countries that supported Israel during the Yom Kippur War, including Netherlands, Portugal, and South Africa.

In 2017 the United States pressured China and other members of the United Nations Security Council to end oil shipments to North Korea in an effort to stop them from continuing its ICBM programme. In 2024 the United States and South Korea established a task force to block North Korea from acquiring oil in contravention to sanctions.

See also

• 2022–2023 Russia–European Union gas dispute
• International sanctions against North Korea
• 1973 oil crisis

References

1. Slakaityte, Veronika; Surwillo, Izabela (9 January 2024). "Energy as a weapon - decoding blackmail tactics in Europe". Danish Institute for International Studies.
2. Ganapathy, Cauvery (2024). "Leverage in Energy Security: Weaponising For Good and Bad". In Mishra, Omprakash; Sen, Souradeep (eds.). Global Political Economy, Geopolitics and International Security: The World in Permacrisis. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 176. doi:10.1007/978-981-97-2231-0. ISBN 978-981-97-2230-3. Given that there is evidence now to suggest that by March 2021 (Kramer 2021), President Putin had made up his mind regarding the invasion of Ukraine in the coming spring, the decision by the Russians to reduce the supply of gas to Europe, could well account for a case of energy blackmail.
3. Bryjka, Filip (12 May 2023). "How the War in Ukraine Impacts NATO Policy in the Black Sea Region". PISM Bulletin. 57 (2176). Polish Institute of International Affairs: 1. Through hybrid methods, Russia is destabilising the internal situation in Moldova where it uses energy blackmail, disinformation, and financing of protests to undermine the pro-European Action and Solidarity Party (PAS) government and replace it with the pro-Russian Şor Party.
4. Kirkegaard, Jacob Funk (30 September 2023). "Russia's invasion of Ukraine has cemented the European Union's commitment to carbon pricing". Policy Brief 23-13. Peterson Institute for International Economics. p. 1. Despite the energy shock of 2022, the price of EU carbon emissions permits was maintained in the €85 per ton range once Russia's energy blackmail became apparent in late 2021.
5. Shelest, Hanna (13 December 2015). "Hybrid War & the Eastern Partnership: Waiting for a Correlation" (PDF). Turkish Policy Quarterly. Vol. 14, no. 3. p. 46. This pressure in the form of trade wars, energy blackmail, discreditable propaganda, diplomatic deceit, and coercion to join alternative regional integration projects has been felt by almost all Eastern Partnership states (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine).
6. Ekmanis, Indra (28 October 2024). "Contesting Russia: The Baltic Perspective". Baltic Bulletin. Eurasia Program. Foreign Policy Research Institute. The Baltic states, in turn, have responded by turning areas of risk into areas of expertise: for example, on Energy Security in Lithuania (2012), where previous dependency on Russia left the country vulnerable to energy blackmail;
7. Korybko, Andrew (6 June 2014). "The Prospects for the South Stream Pipeline after the Ukrainian Crisis" (PDF). Foreign Policy Journal.
8. Blank, Stephen (27 August 2013). "Russia Pressures Armenia to Join Customs Union". The Central Asia-Caucasus Analyst. Central Asia-Caucasus Institute. Moscow's two abiding goals are to integrate the entire post-Soviet space under its domination and as part of that larger multi-dimensional process, ensure that it is the only security manager in the Caucasus. Not only is it now using energy blackmail against Armenia;
9. Güngör, Yasin (16 November 2024). "EU Commission chief accuses Russia of energy 'blackmail'". Anadolu Agency.
10. "Opec: What is it and what is happening to oil prices?". 2022-05-03. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
11. "OPEC Oil Embargo 1973–1974". U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian. Archived from the original on March 6, 2014. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
12. Sanger, David E.; Sang-Hun, Choe (2017-09-04). "U.S. Urges Fuel Cutoff for North Korea, Saying It's 'Begging for War'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
13. Zhao, Tong (2017-12-01). "Why an oil embargo won't stop North Korea". CNN. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
14. "Sorry, an Oil Embargo Won't Lead to North Korea's Capitulation". thediplomat.com. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
15. Smith, Josh (27 March 2024). "US, South Korea set up task force to block North Korea oil shipments". Reuters. Retrieved 16 January 2025.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

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