Bloomberg: EU Seeks ‘Fair’ Gas Price for Ukraine, Oettinger Says

The European Union is seeking market-based natural gas prices for Russian supplies to Ukraine to end a dispute between the two nations and avoid possible disruptions to the bloc, which is pushing to diversify supplies.

Europe needs to move fast to reduce dependency on external suppliers and options include new gas delivery routes and renewables, Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said today in London. The bloc has enough gas to last “some” 30 days, better links between members and more options via Norway, Algeria and supplies of liquefied fuel in case of disturbances, he said.

The EU gets about 30 percent of its gas from Russia, half of which transits Ukraine, and is pushing to resolve a pricing dispute between the two former Soviet nations to avoid disruptions as in 2006 and 2009. While Ukraine paid for February and March supplies, bills are still outstanding for November, December, April and May.
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