Energy consumption is linked direct to economic activity. According to Eurostat the most significant drop in European energy consumption – 5.8% – occurred in 2009 and is attributed by the agency “to a lower level of economic activity as a result of the global financial and economic crisis”, although in general the consumption of energy continues to grow […]
A key factor in current gas policy is the fight for the European gas market, which is becoming increasingly politicized. It is very evident that this market requires substantial re-structuring, linked to the consequences of American sanctions policy and changes in the system of gas transport routes, even if not all the transport options announced […]
German politicians’ faint hopes that the administration of new US president Joe Biden would replace wrath with favour have been dashed by an icy Transatlantic reality. Washington continues to take an intransigent stance and threaten European participants in the project with sanctions. But Berlin is still trying to withstand the pressure and save face, by […]
In the context of an increase in negative expectations of a serious crisis developing in the global financial market, ensuring energy security in socially and industrially key markets has become a question fundamental to preserving economic stability. These key markets now comprise East Asia, whose economic nucleus is China, and the European Union market. The […]
In giving up Russian gas for political reasons, Ukraine made the fatal error of not making contingency plans, and is now buying re-exported fuel from Europe at higher cost. Kiev tried to counteract this gross mistake with loud declarations that gas, including shale, would soon start to be extracted from its own deposits. According to […]
The political and economic steps that have been implemented recently to develop cooperation among states in the Caspian region testify to the possibility of forming a new globally significant centre of economic growth in the medium term. Politically, this meant the signing of the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea. Economically, there […]
In order to control the specifics of supplies, the European Commission initially tried to obtain a mandate from EU countries for negotiations with Russia on the conditions for building the gas pipeline – but without success. According to EU legislation, these decisions remain with member countries and Brussels only has a consultative voice in this […]
Westinghouse, the American subdivision of Japan’s Toshiba specializing in the production of nuclear reactors for power plants had already long since gone into bankruptcy. Finally, the Brookfield Business Partners management company, headquartered in Toronto, announced just
When it was announced a few years ago that Europe would soon begin to receive gas from Mediterranean deposits, proponents of diversifying the energy sector rubbed their hands with glee. Plans for creating an effective competitive base to offset Gazprom’s virtual monopoly on European gas supply have long occupied the hearts and minds of those […]
Problems with laying the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline, which were already substantial enough, became even more acute as soon as Denmark held its first public consultation on its potential construction. More than three hundred residents and official representatives of the Danish municipalities through whose area the gas pipeline should pass took part in the consultation. […]
The Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project and the related Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline (TGP), which have been in the process of implementation since 2011 have again become the subject of discussion in energy and political circles, in which this is connected to the latest intensification of the gas conflict between Ukraine and Russia and a growing […]
Despite the ending of the winter peak in fuel consumption in European countries, the situation with gas supplies to Europe via Ukraine remains acute; this is apparent not merely in the fact that from 26 February to 1 March there was a real threat of Ukrainian gas reserves falling below 8 billion cubic metres (bcm), […]
The theme of Europe’s energy security is a constant irritant in both EU–Russia relations and in relations among European elites. We should probably resign ourselves to the manipulative nature of discussions about European energy security, which are far from the real economic circumstances. With this manipulation in mind, we should focus on economic reality, which […]
One of the key questions for securing Europe’s energy security is the possibility of organising the transportation of Iranian gas to the EU and thus alleviating the EU’s dependence on gas supplies from Russia. In the last year and a half this question has acquired a key and apparently disproportionate significance for Europe’s energy security. […]
