What divergent crude oil and natural gas prices portend for the EU and US

When Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, forecasters were quick to revise their projections of prices for energy considerably higher in anticipation of supply shortages for both crude oil and natural gas. Europe was widely perceived to be vulnerable to cutbacks in supplies of natural gas from Russia, which accounted for about 40 percent of its energy needs. At the same time, some forecasts called for the price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) to double to between $125 -$150 per barrel in response to sanctions that were imposed on Russia. Developments since then suggest the European Union (EU) may experience…