Public Service Europe: The future of energy: another dash for gas

Natural gas is set to become the market leader in the European energy market in the coming decades and the continent is well placed to capitalise on cheaper costs due to its pipeline connections to a surrounding neighbourhood rich in gas reserves, the chief executive of refining and marketing at BP has claimed. With oil exploration relying on expensive deep-water drilling as the number of new significant oil-field finds continues to decline – gas from Russia, Africa and the Caspian Basin is expected to fill the void.

Iain Conn of BP, speaking at the Brussels Forum, hosted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States think-tank, said: "Europe is surrounded by gas and is plugged into the pipeline infrastructure so it's fortunate that natural gas is going to become the market leader in the coming decades. The most important thing is that Caspian gas is opened up to Europe because we are all very excited about finding new gas there. Finding new sources of gas is going to drop the energy intensity of our gross domestic product, one of the only economic advantages we still have over China. Russia's entire economy depends on oil and gas and we are lucky to be connected to it, but diversification keeps everyone honest and keeps costs down."  MORE