Too Many Members States Still Reliant on Russian Gas, EU Energy Commissioner Says

Though improvements have been made, there are still too many European countries entirely reliant on Russian gas, EU Commissioner for Energy and Climate Action, Miguel Arias Cañete said at an event in Dublin today.

The statement comes a day after the European Commission sent Russian major Gazprom a Statement of Objections, alleging it had breached antitrust regulations.

Speaking at the GIE Annual Conference, Commissioner Cañete said it was paramount that every European country had access to diversified supply of energy.

“All member states will benefit from diverse supply in future,” he said. “We clearly need to reduce our exposure to geopolitical risk."

There were a number of ways member states could ensure that diversity of supply was achieved, Commissioner Cañete.

Key to achieving the aim of a secure gas market was the development of quality infrastructure, he noted, particularly through the development of infrastructure projects, like the pipelines of the Southern Gas Corridor.

Also of particular benefit to member states would be increased use of liquefied natural gas.

“We need to focus on the most important LNG projects,” the Commissioner said. That would involve working with member states to create a clear strategy to increase the utilisation of LNG and to make Europe attractive to suppliers of the fuel.

Despite his strong statement about Russian-gas reliant countries, he emphasised that taking the right steps could break that dependence. One particular success story he highlighted at the conference was that of Lithuania, which opened its aptly named Independence LNG terminal last year.

“With [the opening of the terminal in Klaipeda], the monopoly of a single supplier [Gazprom] was broken and competition arrived. We will do everything in our power to ensure all countries in Europe can enjoy similar.”

Also of necessity was the fostering of a sufficiently investment-friendly climate to encourage development of new projects, he told the conference, something the European Commission was working to foster.

“We will do everything we can to create a stable and predictable regulatory framework,” he said.