One of the most ambitious European energy projects, the $45 billion Southern Gas Corridor may be about to breathe its last, in spite of the ongoing effort to revive it. It has been beset by a disease that has been developing as quickly as a particularly pernicious tumor. While in spring, there was still hope […]
The point of no return has been reached: on January 25, a government-appointed commission reached an agreement to shut down all of Germany’s coal-fired power plants by 2038 at the latest. Since 2011, Germany has also been heading towards the denuclearization of its energy sector, which should be completed in 2022. This strong push towards greener energy sets an example for other countries, […]
After almost a year of suspense, the future of Romanian gas exports remains highly uncertain. Restrictive legislation adopted by the previous government in 2018 remains in force, while new steps to ease gas exports are proving incongruent with it. The Neptun Deep Standstill Perhaps most revealing is the lack of development in the Neptun Deep […]
The global economy has not simply proved to be in a recession, intensified by the coronavirus pandemic: it is confronted with the formation of new systemic political realities. The sooner these new systemic realities are transformed into a new economic understanding, the quicker and more effective the way out of the crisis will be. If […]
In the autumn of 2019, Azerbaijan triumphantly reported that preparations for the Southern Gas Corridor (SGC) project were moving to their final stage: its launch was scheduled to take place by the end of 2020. However, everything may not be as rosy as Baku has been trying to suggest. The issue is not just the […]
In the last five years the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline (TGP) project has been considered one of the most important projects for Europe’s gas supply, both in a political sense and from the point of view of potential investment. Despite all its costs – primarily political and environmental – this project has been regarded by supranational European institutions as a […]
Energy policy worldwide is built on a peculiar combination of political, economic and financial interests. This is particularly true in the eastern Mediterranean region, where the lucrative European energy market is undergoing a major transformation while the countries of the Middle East are constantly searching for favourable alliances. The planned EastMed pipeline is a vivid […]
Poland has finally and irrevocably decided that after 2022 it will break free from the Yamal contract, under which it purchases natural gas from Russia. In the future, it intends to buy gas from Norway, the European Union, the United States, and Qatar. For now, however, the Baltic Pipe gas pipeline, through which gas will […]
Earlier this year the US energy major Exxon Mobil officially announced its intention to sell its 50% share in the Neptun Deep offshore project located on the Romanian Black Sea shelf. Although rumours of a sale had circulated since November 2019, no serious buyer has yet come forward. And here is why. Export issue still […]
At the end of October, Denmark simultaneously approved the construction of two gas transit initiatives: Nord Stream 2 – over which intercontinental passions have raged – and the Danish–Polish Baltic Pipe gas pipeline, which for a long time attracted little attention, remaining virtually off the radar, and was authorized earlier than the Russian pipeline.
The creation of a consortium for building the Trans-Caspian Gas Pipeline (TGP) made up of Edison Technologies, MMEC Mannesmann, Air Liquid Global E&C Solution, and the SINOPEC Engineering Group was announced in August 2019. Analysts believe, however, that the likelihood of the plans announced by the consortium being achieved are minimal due to a current lack of the necessary political, legal, financial and economic conditions for the project.
n September 2019 the European Court of Justice overruled a decision previously made by the EU, forcing Gazprom to limit its use of the Opal pipeline to only 50% of its 36 billion cubic metres (bcm) annual capacity.
The Polish government has announced its intention to end its dependence on Russian gas. Its current contract with Gazprom expires in 2022 and Polish decision makers insist they will not extend it further. Under the terms of the contract, Poland currently imports a minimum of 8.5 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas per year from Russia.
Since the natural gas crisis in 2009 at least, special attention has been given to energy security in the countries of central and eastern Europe. When the dispute between Ukraine and Russia finally developed into open conflict in 2014, concerns over future developments in the energy and utilities sector in the region reached new highs. […]
