European leaders will seek ways to cut their multi-billion-dollar dependence on Russian gas at talks in Brussels today and tomorrow, while stopping short of severing energy ties with Moscow for now.
Russia’s seizure of Ukraine’s Crimea region has revived doubts about whether the European Union should continue to rely on Russia for nearly a third of its gas, providing Gazprom with an average of $5 billion per month in revenue. Some 40 per cent of that gas is shipped via Ukraine.
EU powerhouse Germany is among those with particularly close energy links to Russia and has echoed comments from Gazprom, Russia’s top natural gas producer, that Russia has been a reliable supplier for decades.
Russian supplies of gas to the EU were disrupted in 2006 and 2009, but only because of knock-on effects when Moscow cut off Ukraine for not paying its bills. Although those incidents resulted in EU attempts to diversify its energy sources, contracts to the bloc have always been honoured.
Ukraine crisis convinced many that Russia is no longer reliable
EU officials said the current Ukraine crisis, however, had convinced many in Europe that Russia was no longer reliable and the political will to end its supply dominance had never been greater.
“Everyone recognises a major change of pace is needed on the part of the European Union,” one EU official said on condition of anonymity.
“At the back of people’s minds, there will always be the doubt that if the relationship goes sour, Russia has that weapon and it’s not something it should have,” another official said.
A draft document prepared ahead of the summit calls on the European Commission, the EU executive, to present by June a comprehensive plan to reduce EU energy dependence.
As alternatives to imported gas, the Brussels talks will debate the EU’s “indigenous supplies”, which include renewable energy and shale gas. They will also underline the need for energy efficiency and to build better cross-border links to share resources, control costs and develop EU capacity to pump gas to Ukraine should it need help.
A British discussion paper lists a range of options, including intensifying talks on the export of Iraqi gas via pipeline to Europe and examining how to “facilitate” gas exports from the US.