Shale Gas in Europe: No Overnight Solution

Offering the German Perspective on energy security in light of the Ukraine crisis at the Energy Security Summit 2014 in Berlin, Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Federal Republic of Germany, noted that energy security had been much higher on the agenda in the last few weeks.

He said, “The crisis in Ukraine has put energy security on the agenda, it's in focus and has regained our awareness and is in the minds of the broader public. What is confirmed in my view is the impression that energy policy is quite directly the core business of foreign policy.”

Ten years ago, he explained, people had their doubts about that.

Regarding 2006 and 2009 gas crises, Mr. Steinmeier recalled: “In those years we did have difficult talks to carry out at a time when the gas crises were isolated and solvable, but this time around the gas dispute has become the subject of a large political controversy with consequences for Europe but that are not confined to Europe and will have a global impact, whether we want it to or not.”

He cited the fact that half of Russian gas flowed towards Europe, and half of that through Ukraine.

“In recent weeks and months, in the bigger countries of the EU, the greater dependency is on gas from Russia, the greater the political nervousness.”

Minister Steinmeier reported that that feeling was acute in the Baltics states and in Visegrad countries like Hungary, many of which were 100% relying on Russian energy imports. “With many of our eastern neighbors there are political concerns, with a view on the one hand, to the annexation of Crimea, but also coupled with the economic dependencies of Russia.”

This could create difficult domestic situations in those countries. He cited the size of the debate over energy supplies, for example, in Bulgaria.

“No one should delude themselves that what's been described as a problem now can be solved at short notice with LNG from Texas or Ohio, or from Qatar. Right now, it's not a suitable solution,” he explained.

According to him, evolutionary changes in energy policy took time.