As Dr. Fatih Birol, the IEA’s Executive Director, stated it in the previous episode: the EU’s reliance on Russian energy, especially natural gas, was a monumental historic mistake. Prior to 2022, the country accounted for over 40% of the EU’s natural gas supply. Last year the Russian share fell to approximately 15%. To achieve this the EU significantly reduced its demand and replaced Russia with other suppliers. But, at what cost? And which sectors have reduced their demand the most. And how? I put these and other questions to Ben McWilliams, an economist in the field of Energy and Climate Policy. He is an affiliate fellow at the Brussels-based independent economic think tank Bruegel. Since 2022 he has worked on a monthly overview of European natural gas import flows, storage levels and demand. - European natural gas imports: https://www.bruegel.org/dataset/european-natural-gas-imports - European natural gas demand tracker: https://www.bruegel.org/dataset/european-natural-gas-demand-tracker