Shell PLC (LSE:SHEL, NYSE:SHEL) chief executive Ben van Beurden has warned that energy shortages in Europe are likely to persist for several winters to come even as governments across the continent are seeking alternative energy sources to help alleviate shortages.
Reductions in Russian gas supply since the invasion of Ukraine have plunged European countries into a devastating energy crisis, resulting in high wholesale prices and the highest inflation rates since the 1980s for consumers.
Van Beurden said the situation may persist for several years during a press meet in Norway, adding, "It may well be that we will have a number of winters where we have to somehow find solutions."
"Efficiency savings, rationing, and very quick buildout of alternatives" would be key to solving the energy crisis, he added, but he said suggestions "that this is going to be somehow easy, or over, I think is a fantasy that we should put aside."
Shell, Europe's biggest oil company, was last week fined by UK energy watchdog for overcharging customers.
As households and businesses face record increases in gas and electricity bills, Europe's biggest economies brace for a difficult winter of soaring inflation and the threat of recession.
In response to sanctions, Russia has throttled exports to most of the EU. Although not all EU countries rely on Russian gas directly, competition has pushed wholesale prices up by a factor of 12 in the last year.
Although Britain sources little gas directly from Russia, wholesale prices are soaring due to the tightness of the market and last Friday the price cap on energy bills was lifted 80% to £3,549 a year, with further hikes to around £6,500 expected next year.
Liz Truss, who is likely to be the next British prime minister, has yet to address what help she will give households but is reported to be planning approvals for a series of North Sea oil and gas drilling licences as one of her first acts as PM.