The document discusses the issue of energy security within the European Union. It notes that the EU imports around half of its total energy needs and will become more dependent on foreign energy imports over time. This dependence creates challenges for ensuring stable, affordable, and reliable energy supplies. The document examines some of the EU's key energy relationships and policies around securing supplies, including its dependence on Russia as a major energy exporter, efforts to diversify energy imports from other countries and routes, and the need for a coherent EU energy policy to strengthen its position internationally.
Essay based on the crisis in Ukraine and the role of the access to energy resources (oil and natural gas) in developing/resolving the conflict, with the focus on relations between two super powers EU and Russia.
The recent record-high gas prices have triggered legitimate concerns regarding the EU’s energy security, especially with dependence on natural gas from Russia. This brief discusses the historical and current risks associated with Russian gas imports. We argue that decreasing the reliance on Russian gas may not be feasible in the short-to-mid-run, especially with the EU’s goals of green transition and the electrification of the economy. To ensure the security of natural gas supply from Russia, the EU has to adopt the (long-proclaimed) coordinated energy policy strategy.
The need for urgent climate action and energy transformation away from fossil fuels is widely acknowledged. Yet, current country plans for emission reductions do not reach the requirements to contain global warming under 2°C. What is worse, there is even reasonable doubt about the commitment to said plans given recent history and existing future investment plans into fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure development. This policy brief shortly summarizes the presentations and discussions at the SITE Development Day Conference, held on December 8, 2021, focusing on climate change policies and the challenge of a green energy transition in Eastern Europe.
Essay based on the crisis in Ukraine and the role of the access to energy resources (oil and natural gas) in developing/resolving the conflict, with the focus on relations between two super powers EU and Russia.
The recent record-high gas prices have triggered legitimate concerns regarding the EU’s energy security, especially with dependence on natural gas from Russia. This brief discusses the historical and current risks associated with Russian gas imports. We argue that decreasing the reliance on Russian gas may not be feasible in the short-to-mid-run, especially with the EU’s goals of green transition and the electrification of the economy. To ensure the security of natural gas supply from Russia, the EU has to adopt the (long-proclaimed) coordinated energy policy strategy.
The need for urgent climate action and energy transformation away from fossil fuels is widely acknowledged. Yet, current country plans for emission reductions do not reach the requirements to contain global warming under 2°C. What is worse, there is even reasonable doubt about the commitment to said plans given recent history and existing future investment plans into fossil fuel extraction and infrastructure development. This policy brief shortly summarizes the presentations and discussions at the SITE Development Day Conference, held on December 8, 2021, focusing on climate change policies and the challenge of a green energy transition in Eastern Europe.
The European Union’s (EU) consumption of natural gas has been growing rapidly over the last two decades. Gas has become an increasingly important component of the EU’s energy mix, with gas-fired power plants gradually replacing less environmentally friendly coal plants. Domestic gas production covered close to 60 percent of the EU’s consumption needs during the 1990s, but by 2007 it declined substantially around 40 percent (see Figure 1). The rest is imported from three main sources: Russia (around 40 percent of total gas imports), Norway (around 25 percent) and various African countries among them Algeria, Nigeria, Libya and Egypt which account for around 25 percent. The last few years have also heightened public worries in Europe over the security of its gas supplies, primarily those imports coming from Russia. These fears were partly confirmed in January 2009 when several EU and non- EU countries faced a sudden cut in their gas supplies. The Russian- Ukrainian stand-off only reinforced the argument that more needs to be done to strengthen the reliability of access to vital energy resources.
Authored by: Wojciech Paczynski
Published in 2009
Natural gas, a clean fuel against the constraints to its growth in europe sa ...Sid Ahmed Hamdani
here attached is a paper published at the 5th gas symposium held in february, algiers. The paper deals with the main constraints and challenges of natural gas in Europe
Swedbank was founded in 1820, as Sweden’s first savings bank was established. Today, our heritage is visible in that we truly are a bank for each and every one and in that we still strive to contribute to a sustainable development of society and our environment. We are strongly committed to society as a whole and keen to help bring about a sustainable form of societal development. Our Swedish operations hold an ISO 14001 environmental certification, and environmental work is an integral part of our business activities.
Current debate on the energy security in the EU often stresses the EU dependency on gas imports from Russia. However, Russia is no less dependent on the EU – more than half of its gas exports goes to Europe. The purpose of this paper is to characterize this mutual dependency through an index-based approach, and to discuss how the development of gas markets may affect such dependency. We suggest a unified framework to assess the security of gas supply for the EU and the security of gas demand for Russia, and construct dependency indexes for both parties. Our approach accounts not only for the traditional import/export dependency measures but also for the balance of power between Russia and the EU. The proposed methodology is then used to address the evolution of the EU-Russia gas relationship in the view of gas market's developments. New gas pipelines projects (e.g., South Stream, Nabucco) and increasing use of liquefied natural gas are all likely to impact both the demand side and the supply side of the EU-Russia gas trade, and affect mutual gas dependency between the EU and Russia.
This paper proposes a Transit Risk Index (TRI) designed to assess the riskiness of pipeline gas imports and to study the effect of introducing new gas routes. TRI controls for gas dependency, transit route diversification, political risks of transit, pipeline rupture probability, and the balance of power between supplying and consuming countries along the transit route. Evaluating TRI for the EU-Russia gas trade, we show that the introduction of the Nord Stream pipeline would further widen already large disparities in gas risk exposure across the EU Member States. The gas risk exposure of the Member States served by Nord Stream would decline. In contrast, EU countries not connected to Nord Stream, but sharing other Russian gas transit routes with the Nord Stream countries, would face greater gas risk exposure. We discuss the implications of our analysis for the design of the common energy policy in the EU.
Find more research papers at: https://www.hhs.se/site
EUROPEAN GAS MARKETS – DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE VIABLE FOR EUROPEAN MARKET TO ...archanasingh388
The European natural gas market is facing a number of changes in the mid to long term.
Decreasing European production, especially in the Netherlands until 2030, entails a growing level of imports in many non-producer
countries.
Additionally, due to ongoing geopolitical tension, e.g. Russia- Ukraine crisis, and the goal of security of supply, the European Union (EU) has put forward plans to pursue the
strategy of creating an EU Energy Union in order to diminish its dependence on Russian natural gas supplies.
Global Energy Trends in European-Russian ContextDmitry Shtykhno
Presented to the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Applied Business and Entrepreneurship Association International (ABEAI) Waikoloa, Hawaii, USA November 16-20, 2010.
Research examines global energy and focuses on important trends and implications: shifts in energy supply-demand and global energy security implications; shortages in proven deposits and increasing demand for oil worldwide that drive energy-related technological and political-economic changes; environmental and economic pressure pushing for renewable energy and changing the global energy equation. Research explores the dynamics of energy sector in Russia and their impacts on the European region where dependence on Russia is exacerbated by increasing competition for energy access from economic giants of China, India, and other emerging economies.
Keeping The Lights On - MSLGROUP Energy Report January 2014MSL
Rising consumer prices, unrealistic renewable energy subsidies, crumbling financial models -- in this report, we share insights on the challenges facing the European power market and the role of communications in trying to re-establish trust and build empathy between producers and their customers.
At MSLGROUP, we represent a wide range of power companies across Europe, ranging from large scale utilities to small scale renewables; from nuclear to solar and all points in between. We are actively engaged in helping our clients communicate around these issues and relish the challenge! We hope that you enjoy this report and welcome your feedback.
So don’t hesitate to contact us with your thoughts.
The European Union’s (EU) consumption of natural gas has been growing rapidly over the last two decades. Gas has become an increasingly important component of the EU’s energy mix, with gas-fired power plants gradually replacing less environmentally friendly coal plants. Domestic gas production covered close to 60 percent of the EU’s consumption needs during the 1990s, but by 2007 it declined substantially around 40 percent (see Figure 1). The rest is imported from three main sources: Russia (around 40 percent of total gas imports), Norway (around 25 percent) and various African countries among them Algeria, Nigeria, Libya and Egypt which account for around 25 percent. The last few years have also heightened public worries in Europe over the security of its gas supplies, primarily those imports coming from Russia. These fears were partly confirmed in January 2009 when several EU and non- EU countries faced a sudden cut in their gas supplies. The Russian- Ukrainian stand-off only reinforced the argument that more needs to be done to strengthen the reliability of access to vital energy resources.
Authored by: Wojciech Paczynski
Published in 2009
Natural gas, a clean fuel against the constraints to its growth in europe sa ...Sid Ahmed Hamdani
here attached is a paper published at the 5th gas symposium held in february, algiers. The paper deals with the main constraints and challenges of natural gas in Europe
Swedbank was founded in 1820, as Sweden’s first savings bank was established. Today, our heritage is visible in that we truly are a bank for each and every one and in that we still strive to contribute to a sustainable development of society and our environment. We are strongly committed to society as a whole and keen to help bring about a sustainable form of societal development. Our Swedish operations hold an ISO 14001 environmental certification, and environmental work is an integral part of our business activities.
Current debate on the energy security in the EU often stresses the EU dependency on gas imports from Russia. However, Russia is no less dependent on the EU – more than half of its gas exports goes to Europe. The purpose of this paper is to characterize this mutual dependency through an index-based approach, and to discuss how the development of gas markets may affect such dependency. We suggest a unified framework to assess the security of gas supply for the EU and the security of gas demand for Russia, and construct dependency indexes for both parties. Our approach accounts not only for the traditional import/export dependency measures but also for the balance of power between Russia and the EU. The proposed methodology is then used to address the evolution of the EU-Russia gas relationship in the view of gas market's developments. New gas pipelines projects (e.g., South Stream, Nabucco) and increasing use of liquefied natural gas are all likely to impact both the demand side and the supply side of the EU-Russia gas trade, and affect mutual gas dependency between the EU and Russia.
This paper proposes a Transit Risk Index (TRI) designed to assess the riskiness of pipeline gas imports and to study the effect of introducing new gas routes. TRI controls for gas dependency, transit route diversification, political risks of transit, pipeline rupture probability, and the balance of power between supplying and consuming countries along the transit route. Evaluating TRI for the EU-Russia gas trade, we show that the introduction of the Nord Stream pipeline would further widen already large disparities in gas risk exposure across the EU Member States. The gas risk exposure of the Member States served by Nord Stream would decline. In contrast, EU countries not connected to Nord Stream, but sharing other Russian gas transit routes with the Nord Stream countries, would face greater gas risk exposure. We discuss the implications of our analysis for the design of the common energy policy in the EU.
Find more research papers at: https://www.hhs.se/site
EUROPEAN GAS MARKETS – DO YOU THINK IT WILL BE VIABLE FOR EUROPEAN MARKET TO ...archanasingh388
The European natural gas market is facing a number of changes in the mid to long term.
Decreasing European production, especially in the Netherlands until 2030, entails a growing level of imports in many non-producer
countries.
Additionally, due to ongoing geopolitical tension, e.g. Russia- Ukraine crisis, and the goal of security of supply, the European Union (EU) has put forward plans to pursue the
strategy of creating an EU Energy Union in order to diminish its dependence on Russian natural gas supplies.
Global Energy Trends in European-Russian ContextDmitry Shtykhno
Presented to the Seventh Annual Meeting of the Applied Business and Entrepreneurship Association International (ABEAI) Waikoloa, Hawaii, USA November 16-20, 2010.
Research examines global energy and focuses on important trends and implications: shifts in energy supply-demand and global energy security implications; shortages in proven deposits and increasing demand for oil worldwide that drive energy-related technological and political-economic changes; environmental and economic pressure pushing for renewable energy and changing the global energy equation. Research explores the dynamics of energy sector in Russia and their impacts on the European region where dependence on Russia is exacerbated by increasing competition for energy access from economic giants of China, India, and other emerging economies.
Keeping The Lights On - MSLGROUP Energy Report January 2014MSL
Rising consumer prices, unrealistic renewable energy subsidies, crumbling financial models -- in this report, we share insights on the challenges facing the European power market and the role of communications in trying to re-establish trust and build empathy between producers and their customers.
At MSLGROUP, we represent a wide range of power companies across Europe, ranging from large scale utilities to small scale renewables; from nuclear to solar and all points in between. We are actively engaged in helping our clients communicate around these issues and relish the challenge! We hope that you enjoy this report and welcome your feedback.
So don’t hesitate to contact us with your thoughts.
Today’s renewable energy sources are very important for lots of countries. Therefore, many countries start to change and implement their policies. Especially, in Turkey and Europe the importance of solar and wind energies influence the energy policies.
Can the Caspian Sea be our savior in the energy deal? or Is it worth for the compelling missions? Thus, The Caspian Sea is an newly emerged region of potentially big oil resources. In order to understand the complexity of Caspian Bonanza firstly, control of production of the oil and gas, and secondly, control of the pipelines that will transfer the hydrocarbons the world markets should be examined.
Today EU’s and most of the countries’ main concern is energy security. How they reach energy at an affordable price, reliable, diverse and abundant supplies, is the main question. Moreover, energy security composed of commonly with Supply ‘Consumers’, Transportation, Demand ‘Producers’ and Physical Security ‘Producer and Consumer’. Because there is a struggle over resources, EU, ‘national and supranational governance’ should take challenges, opportunities well in to consideration
Clean Energy Sources and Multilateral Cooperation in the European Union: A Mo...Przemyslaw Osiewicz
Celem niniejszego artykułu jest analiza współpracy państw Unii Europejskiej w obszarze odnawialnych źródeł energii oraz określenie możliwości wykorzystania europejskich doœwiadczeń w regionie Zatoki Perskiej. Region Zatoki Perskiej obfituje w surowce energetyczne takie jak ropa naftowa i gaz ziemny. Sytuacja ta nie ulegnie zmianie przez przynajmniej kilkadziesiąt kolejnych lat. Jednak¿e ju¿ teraz, pomimo łatwej dostępności i stosunkowo niskich cen energii pozyskiwanej ze źródeł nieodnawialnych, wœród władz i mieszkańców niektórych państw regionu roœnie świadomość ekologiczna oraz przekonanie, iż należy przygotować się na okres po wyczerpaniu złóż ropy czy gazu. Póki co, rozwój rynku energii ze źródeł odnawialnych dotyczy zaledwie kilku państw Zatoki Perskiej i trudno ją nawet porównywać z bardzo zaawansowaną pod tym względem Unią Europejską. Niemniej, warto zastanowiæ się czy unijne doœwiadczenie współpracy na rynku energii odnawialnej (rozwiązania prawne
i mechanizmy wspó³pracy) mogłoby zostać wykorzystane w bogatych państwach Zatoki Perskiej, a następnie w całym regionie Bliskiego Wschodu. W okresie wzrostu znaczenia ekopolityki w skali globalnej oraz współzależności gospodarczej, rozwój rozwiązań prawnych oraz technologii pozyskiwania energii ze źródeł odnawialnych nabiera szczególnego, ponadregionalnego znaczenia.
The security of energy supply is one of the main objectives of the common energy policy on the EU. In this paper, we provide an index that evaluates the risks associated with the external energy supply of the EU Member States. The index is designed to access the short-term risk to the supply security. The index combines measures of energy import diversi cation, political risks of the supplying country, risk associated with energy transit, and the economic impact of a supply disruption for each energy type. We provide estimates for a sample of eighteen EU Member States and for three primary energy sources: oil, gas and coal. We construct a separate index for each energy type and demonstrate that European countriesexposure to risks di¤ers across energies. Most other studies provide an aggregate index that combines di¤erent types of energy. Our results suggest that an aggregate approach might be misleading at least as regards the short-term
response to risks. We also nd that the relative contribution to the overall European risk exposure di¤ers across EU Member States. We discuss the implications of our ndings for the common energy policy.
Version of July 2, 2008. Please check for updates http://www.sciencedirect.com/
Read more research publications at: https://www.hhs.se/site
Southeastern Mediterranean hydrocarbons - A new energy corridor for the EU?Harris Samaras
The (a) confirmation of significant quantities of hydrocarbons in Cyprus, (b) the scientific estimates of equally significant quantities in the south and southwest of the Greek island of Crete and (c) the officially declared increased cooperation between Cyprus, Israel and Greece to jointly exploit their hydrocarbon deposits may prove to be a tremendous opportunity not only for Cyprus, Greece and Israel but for the EU as a whole.
World renowned scientists claim that the hydrocarbon deposits that lie south and southwest of the island of Crete are huge; and maybe bigger than those in the Levantine Basin; they dare to state that within the EEZ of Greece there may be as much as 51 tcm of natural gas! Could this lead into the making of a new energy corridor for the EU? Shouldn’t the EU be more actively involved in the efforts of its member countries, Greece and Cyprus? Isn’t this for the EU a project of Pan-European interest thus include it in its energy policy, coordinate and assist with technical knowhow but also with political leverage and other? As critical year 2020 is around the corner, aren’t the already scientific interpretations important enough to accelerate the EU think tanks and policy institutes view on the whole issue?
Report on Ukraine and European energy security by Amb. Keith C. Smith, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), USA, at Lviv International Security Forum, 15-16 April, 2010
Panel discussion «integration of the ukrainian energy system into entso e key challenges and tasks». Within XV International Forum “Fuel and Energy Complex of Ukraine: the present and the future”
Kyiv, International Exhibition Center, 8 November, 2017.
MSLGROUP EMEA Energy Report June 2013: Snail ShaleMSL
Our latest energy report captures the progress of the shale industry across EMEA.
In our previous reports, we talked about how Fukushima has shaken up the European energy landscape and shared our insights into the challenges facing EMEA including climate change, growing fuel poverty and security of supply.
MSLGROUP has a growing footprint across Europe and beyond, and a fantastic team in place to help our clients rise to the challenge of communicating effectively with stakeholders around the world on these and other critical issues. Connect with us: www.mslgroup.com
There are major shifts in the EU energy space including pending lessons from Russian sanctions, France's commitments to renewables,and the politics of pipelines.
Slack (or Teams) Automation for Bonterra Impact Management (fka Social Soluti...Jeffrey Haguewood
Sidekick Solutions uses Bonterra Impact Management (fka Social Solutions Apricot) and automation solutions to integrate data for business workflows.
We believe integration and automation are essential to user experience and the promise of efficient work through technology. Automation is the critical ingredient to realizing that full vision. We develop integration products and services for Bonterra Case Management software to support the deployment of automations for a variety of use cases.
This video focuses on the notifications, alerts, and approval requests using Slack for Bonterra Impact Management. The solutions covered in this webinar can also be deployed for Microsoft Teams.
Interested in deploying notification automations for Bonterra Impact Management? Contact us at sales@sidekicksolutionsllc.com to discuss next steps.
Transcript: Selling digital books in 2024: Insights from industry leaders - T...BookNet Canada
The publishing industry has been selling digital audiobooks and ebooks for over a decade and has found its groove. What’s changed? What has stayed the same? Where do we go from here? Join a group of leading sales peers from across the industry for a conversation about the lessons learned since the popularization of digital books, best practices, digital book supply chain management, and more.
Link to video recording: https://bnctechforum.ca/sessions/selling-digital-books-in-2024-insights-from-industry-leaders/
Presented by BookNet Canada on May 28, 2024, with support from the Department of Canadian Heritage.
Generating a custom Ruby SDK for your web service or Rails API using Smithyg2nightmarescribd
Have you ever wanted a Ruby client API to communicate with your web service? Smithy is a protocol-agnostic language for defining services and SDKs. Smithy Ruby is an implementation of Smithy that generates a Ruby SDK using a Smithy model. In this talk, we will explore Smithy and Smithy Ruby to learn how to generate custom feature-rich SDKs that can communicate with any web service, such as a Rails JSON API.
Kubernetes & AI - Beauty and the Beast !?! @KCD Istanbul 2024Tobias Schneck
As AI technology is pushing into IT I was wondering myself, as an “infrastructure container kubernetes guy”, how get this fancy AI technology get managed from an infrastructure operational view? Is it possible to apply our lovely cloud native principals as well? What benefit’s both technologies could bring to each other?
Let me take this questions and provide you a short journey through existing deployment models and use cases for AI software. On practical examples, we discuss what cloud/on-premise strategy we may need for applying it to our own infrastructure to get it to work from an enterprise perspective. I want to give an overview about infrastructure requirements and technologies, what could be beneficial or limiting your AI use cases in an enterprise environment. An interactive Demo will give you some insides, what approaches I got already working for real.
Encryption in Microsoft 365 - ExpertsLive Netherlands 2024Albert Hoitingh
In this session I delve into the encryption technology used in Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Purview. Including the concepts of Customer Key and Double Key Encryption.
The Art of the Pitch: WordPress Relationships and SalesLaura Byrne
Clients don’t know what they don’t know. What web solutions are right for them? How does WordPress come into the picture? How do you make sure you understand scope and timeline? What do you do if sometime changes?
All these questions and more will be explored as we talk about matching clients’ needs with what your agency offers without pulling teeth or pulling your hair out. Practical tips, and strategies for successful relationship building that leads to closing the deal.
Key Trends Shaping the Future of Infrastructure.pdfCheryl Hung
Keynote at DIGIT West Expo, Glasgow on 29 May 2024.
Cheryl Hung, ochery.com
Sr Director, Infrastructure Ecosystem, Arm.
The key trends across hardware, cloud and open-source; exploring how these areas are likely to mature and develop over the short and long-term, and then considering how organisations can position themselves to adapt and thrive.
GraphRAG is All You need? LLM & Knowledge GraphGuy Korland
Guy Korland, CEO and Co-founder of FalkorDB, will review two articles on the integration of language models with knowledge graphs.
1. Unifying Large Language Models and Knowledge Graphs: A Roadmap.
https://arxiv.org/abs/2306.08302
2. Microsoft Research's GraphRAG paper and a review paper on various uses of knowledge graphs:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/graphrag-unlocking-llm-discovery-on-narrative-private-data/
JMeter webinar - integration with InfluxDB and GrafanaRTTS
Watch this recorded webinar about real-time monitoring of application performance. See how to integrate Apache JMeter, the open-source leader in performance testing, with InfluxDB, the open-source time-series database, and Grafana, the open-source analytics and visualization application.
In this webinar, we will review the benefits of leveraging InfluxDB and Grafana when executing load tests and demonstrate how these tools are used to visualize performance metrics.
Length: 30 minutes
Session Overview
-------------------------------------------
During this webinar, we will cover the following topics while demonstrating the integrations of JMeter, InfluxDB and Grafana:
- What out-of-the-box solutions are available for real-time monitoring JMeter tests?
- What are the benefits of integrating InfluxDB and Grafana into the load testing stack?
- Which features are provided by Grafana?
- Demonstration of InfluxDB and Grafana using a practice web application
To view the webinar recording, go to:
https://www.rttsweb.com/jmeter-integration-webinar
DevOps and Testing slides at DASA ConnectKari Kakkonen
My and Rik Marselis slides at 30.5.2024 DASA Connect conference. We discuss about what is testing, then what is agile testing and finally what is Testing in DevOps. Finally we had lovely workshop with the participants trying to find out different ways to think about quality and testing in different parts of the DevOps infinity loop.
1. EUROPEAN UNION ENERGY SECURITY
Ece DINCASLAN
Izmir University of Economics
ABSTRACT
Today EU’s and most of the countries’ main concern is energy security. How they reach
energy at an affordable price, reliable, diverse and abundant supplies, is the main question.
Moreover, energy security composed of commonly with Supply ‘Consumers’, Transportation,
Demand ‘Producers’ and Physical Security ‘Producer and Consumer’. Because there is a
struggle over resources, EU, ‘national and supranational governance’ should take challenges,
opportunities well in to consideration.
The potential self-sufficiency for energy within the EU is limited, so that Europe will continue
to be dependent on foreign supplies. Strong and growing relations occurred because of the
Europe’s energy security enhancement. Finally, an effective and coherent energy policy
would enable the EU to maintain its prominent position on the international arena. Diplomatic
and economic dialogues are likely to strengthen partnerships.
1. Introduction
At a first glance, the European Union member states have no legal obligation to pursue a
common energy policy and strategy. Each country will have different decisions and strategic
choices. However, over the past ten years, two major policy developments, in the sense of the
climate change challenge and the establishment of a single Internal Energy Market, have
brought the attention to the necessity of policy coordination and a common energy strategy in
the European Union. Such a common policy is hard to be formed, that given the complexity
of the issues and the conflicting objectives. Whereas some progress has been made in the field
of sustainability, the realization of a common energy market and of a common external energy
policy in order to secure supplies remains particularly hard. Moreover, energy policy in
Europe is faced with important decisions, which have long term consequences given the long
lead times for energy investments and the long lifespan covering several decades. In preparing
such decisions, it is important to have a contextual and consistent view on the various aspects
2. of the economy that will be affected. For this purpose, energy systems and policy analysis on
a European scale is required.
2. Securing Supplies
According to the Commission, the EU imports about 50 per cent of its overall energy needs.
Its import dependency is expected to grow through 2030, from 80 to 93 per cent in the case of
oil, and from 57 to 84 per cent in the case of gas. Russia accounts for 27 per cent of the EU’s
total oil consumption and 30 per cent of its oil imports.1 Similarly, Russia makes up for some
24 per cent of EU total gas consumption and 44 per cent of its gas imports. And, Europe’s
import of Russian gas is expected to double in the next 25 years. One way of securing
Europe’s energy supplies is by reducing its import dependency through internal measures,
such as adapting the energy mix towards alternative and renewable sources, increasing energy
efficiency, and reducing consumption. However, given that the share of oil and gas in the
EU’s total energy consumption mix will far outgrow its domestic production and demand in
the foreseeable future, it is imperative for the EU to forge an effective external energy policy.
It is with regard to this international dimension of energy security that the EU has made the
least progress. Contrary aids from EU leaders to speak with one voice to third parties and the
Commission’s recent conclusion of several agreements with producing states, EU member
states continue to proceed their own external energy policy and frequently seek to secure
energy supplies through bilateral deals. The two key challenges with regard to the EU’s
external energy policy concern its relations with Russia and the diversification of its energy
imports by exploiting global supply markets.
3. EU Dependence On Russia
Given its wealth of natural resources, Russia is bound to remain a key energy partner for the
EU. However, the gas row between Russia and Ukraine in the winter of 2006, which resulted
in a temporary cut off of supply to Europe, generated heightened concern within Europe as to
their perceived dependency on Russia.2 In fact, EU-Russian energy relations are marked by a
high degree of interdependence. While Russia’s Gazprom supplies gas to over 20 European
1
From Ideas To Action: CLEAN ENERGY SOLUTIONS FOR ASIA TO ADDRESS CLIMATE CHANGE, USAID/ASIA,
Section 3,
2
The natural gas dispute between Russia and Ukraine started in March 2005 as a result of the Russian Gaz supplier
company Gazprom’s demand for an increase in the natural gas prices for the gas it provides to the Ukraine. Gazprom
wanted to increase the price from $50 to $230 per 1,000 cubic metres. The continued rejection of Ukraine to pay this price
resulted in Russia’s cutting of natural gas to Ukraine on January 1, 2006. It was important for the EU also, as 80% of EU
natural gas from Russia pass through Ukraine. The crisis was resolved on January 4, 2006. Under the deal, Ukraine buys
gas from a Swissregistered company that is half-owned by Gazprom, called Rosukrenergo. Rosukrenergo buys gas from
Gazprom at $230 per 1,000 cubic metres, and from Turkmenistan for much less. It supplies gas from both sources to
Ukraine, and Ukraine pays an average of $95 per 1,000 cubic metres. For further info:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4569846.stm.
3. countries, Russia is highly dependent on the EU energy market. Over 60 per cent of Russia’s
gas and oil exports flow to Europe, providing 60 per cent of Russia’s cash earnings.
Moreover, Russia is heavily dependent on Western technology to extract reserves for future
production. Despite this factual interdependence, no stable and dynamic EU-Russian energy
relationship has emerged. One issue concerns fair, transparent, and reciprocal access to energy
resources, transport infrastructure, and markets. As Russian national energy companies
increasingly control supply chains of extraction, production, transportation, and sales to
Europe, Europeans question the extent to which Russian companies should be allowed to
operate in their markets. In response, the EU is insisting on equal access for European
companies in Russia’s market. However, Russia is unlikely to liberalize its internal market,
particularly the transport sector, and instead insists on EU guarantees for long-term supply
contracts. As Russia has never ratified the 1994 Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) and Transit
Protocol that would provide a regulatory framework for EU-Russian energy relations,
business is conducted on a case-by-case basis. With Russia continuing to affirm that it still
intend to follow the key principles of the ECT, the EU should work to include them in a new
bilateral partnership and cooperation agreement, in particular regulatory and dispute
settlement mechanisms. As the EU is determined to strengthen the producer-transit-consumer
chain in a common regulatory space, shaping such a space with Russia would mark a success
that is likely to influence EU energy relations with other countries. European cohesion is a
precondition for the EU to enter into these negotiations from a position of strength. However,
beyond the recent mandate approved by the EU Council of Ministers to negotiate with Russia,
the positions of member states differ. This is partly the result of their varying degrees of gas
import dependency on Russia, which ranges from 100 per cent in the case of Bulgaria,
Finland, Estonia, and Romania to 0 per cent in the case of the UK, the Netherlands, Portugal,
and Spain. It is also related to the objectives of some European state-owned companies to
invest in Russia. Moscow is thus able to employ different rules when dealing with different
states and has forged partnerships with some EU members to the detriment of others. The
desire to enhance cooperation in the energy sector is understandable when the dependence of
the EU on Russian energy and Russia’s dependence on the revenues from the EU is taken into
account.3
3
“Russian energy exports account, in value, for some 45% of exports to the EU. 50% of Russian oil exports (crude and
products) of 218 million tonnes of oil equivalent (toe) were to the EU in 2001. This represented 20% of the EU’s oil imports
and 17% of total EU oil consumption. Some 63% (130 billion cubic metres (Bcm)) of Russia’s natural gas exports of 205
Bcm were delivered to European countries in the year 2000, with contractual requirements to increase deliveries to around
200 Bcm by the year 2008. Approximately 56% (73 Bcm) of the natural gas exported to Europe in 2000 was delivered to the
EU.”, for further info: http://ec.europa.eu/energy/russia/overview/why_en.htm
4. 4. Diversifying Suppliers And Transportation Routes
Diversification is a key concern of EU energy security, because Russia is unable to meet
Europe’s growing energy demand and it reduces the risk of serious and negative economic
consequences in the case of interruptions of energy flows. Moreover, the main focus of
Europe Union’s diversification efforts is about gas. The challenge is not just to find reliable
producers, but also to build new transportation routes, with find energy an affordable prices
and continuing sustainability. Unlike oil, gas is difficult to store and mainly transported with
pipelines, which means that gas supply systems are regional rather than global, and most
importantly governments make long term agreements or take-or-pay system. There is no
common gas market contrary to oil. Nowadays, Europe’s gas transportation infrastructure is
belonged to Russia, Algeria, and Norway. Until liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing and
terminals for tanker transportation are more fully developed, the EU will have to build new
pipelines if it seeks to diversify its gas supplies. The main focus with regard to energy
diversification has been on intensifying relations with countries of the Caspian Region, for
instance, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Iran. This region has the two advantages
of holding large reserves of undeveloped gas and oil and of being situated geographically
Russia, allowing for direct transportation lines to Europe. The major EU-supported Nabucco
pipeline is projected to transport Caspian gas through Turkey across Bulgaria, Romania, and
Hungary into Austria. The Turkey-Greece-Italy (TGI) pipeline and the Trans-Adriatic
Pipeline (TAP), run by Swiss EGL and Norway’s StatoilHydro, are also designed to carry
Caspian gas into the heart of Europe.4
5. Nabucco And South Stream
Russia has been very effective in competing with these European projects by supporting its
own pipeline projects. Blue Stream is a trans-Black Sea pipeline constructed by Gazprom and
Italy’s ENI to carry gas from Russia to Turkey.5 The same two companies are now pursuing
the South Stream pipeline project that would carry gas from the Russian coast of the Black
Sea to Romania, Bulgaria, and Greece and from there on a south-western route into southern
Italy and on a north-western route into Serbia and Hungary, continuing on to Austria or
northern Italy. Although South Stream is considered by many experts not to be commercially
viable, it serves as a counter to Nabucco and renders the European project less competitive.
Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, and Serbia have already signed cooperative agreements with
4
Ariel Cohen, Europe's Strategic Dependence on Russian Energy, November 2005
5
Ali Tekin, Paul A. Williams, Europe’s External Energy Policy and Turkey’s Accession Process, Center for European
Studies Working Paper Series #170 (2009)
5. Russia. Hungary, in particular, hopes to become a new hub for Russian gas to Europe.
Because this would undermine Austria’s role as a hub for Nabucco gas, Vienna is now
contemplating the idea of integrating Nabucco with South Stream and filling the pipeline with
Russian gas. Similarly, Greece is proposing to fill the Turkey- Greece- Italy (TGI) pipeline
with gas from Russia.
European gas diversification efforts face several additional challenges. The EU must
compete for Caspian gas with the Russian, Chinese, and also Asian markets. Moreover, the
border link of the Caspian seabed among the littoral states remains an unresolved issue, which
could negatively affect transportation. Furthermore, while Iran’s massive gas reserves make it
a potentially important supplier for the EU, in particular for the Nabucco pipeline, this largely
depends on a resolution of the question of its nuclear program. Some experts predict that the
real growth areas for European gas supplies are in North Africa and the Middle East. If the
EU seeks to create a comprehensive gas supply system that is as interdependent as possible, it
will have to intensify its relations with these regions, despite the difficulties of doing business
with many of the producer countries. The more Europe relies on external gas supplies, the
more need there will be for regulatory, legal, and dispute settlement mechanisms. The EU will
want to ensure that the environmental impact of producing states is limited by an expanded
Kyoto Protocol. Moreover, strengthening the work of multilateral organizations, such as the
International Energy Agency and the World Trade Organization, can help to regulate
competition for limited routes and supplies. The EU should continue to improve conditions
for private investment in producer countries in cooperation with the US and the World Bank.
At the same time, the EU will want to ensure that its demand does not undermine European
Neighbourhood Policy objectives of economic liberalization by making states dependent on
payments for hydrocarbons.
6. Conclusion
The EU energy strategy of March 2007 is an important milestone towards a common energy
policy. But, the challenges remain compelling. It will be difficult to create a fully integrated
internal market as long as external supply sources are concentrated in Russia. It will be
equally difficult to diversify supplies as long as vertically integrated energy companies resist
ceding a share of their domestic markets and their privileged relationships with individual
producers. Finally, until Europe strengthens its own internal energy market, it will be difficult
to encourage its suppliers, such as Russia and Algeria, to do the same. The three pillars of the
EU energy strategy – competitiveness, security of supply, and sustainability of energy – are
interlinked. Therefore, it is essential that the Europeans define priorities and develop an
6. integrated framework. This will require the EU members to intensify their debate on how to
translate policy statements into concrete actions in each of the pillars. In the near term, a
comprehensive strategic EU approach towards energy security is unlikely to emerge. Given
rising energy prices, growing demand, and unpredictable suppliers and routes, this lapse could
impact negatively on the economies of European member states.
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