Business Spectator: A European gas market for all

The European energy landscape has changed markedly in 2014. What was unimaginable in 2013 has become possible: Russia might stop gas supplies to European Union countries, the EU might survive the winter without Russian gas, Ukraine might refrain from importing gas from Russia and reform its gas sector, South Stream might be shelved and Russia might invest massively in gas exports to China and Turkey, and unconventional gas production might translate into a glut of cheap liquefied natural gas.

Not all of these will happen, but the possibilities mean that the EU must rethink its relationship over gas with Russia and Ukraine.

Europe’s primary goal for gas is cheap and reliable supplies. This can be best achieved by competition between all suppliers in a liquid European gas market. Suppliers that still benefit from being able to charge higher prices in markets in which they cannot be contested -- such as Gazprom -- resist greater competition.
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