The first energy crisis of 2006 was brief, but it may be telling.
Russia, flexing its muscles as the biggest source of energy exports outside of the Middle East, put the kibosh on New Year’s celebrations in Ukraine by shutting off the tap for natural gas to this former province of the Soviet Union. After a bit of stop-and-go negotiations, Moscow has relented, turning the gas back on, but not without casting aspersions on any good will that’s accrued in recent years regarding Mother Russia’s reliability as an exporter of crude and natural gas.
Source: Energy Information Administration