European Fee chief Ursula von der Leyen stated on Wednesday that fuel provides to the bloc are on the "secure facet" for the rest of the winter even when Russia additional squeezes out deliveries.
Chatting with MEPs in Strasbourg at the beginning of a debate on EU relations with Russia, von der Leyen stated the bloc is "prepared in case the Russian management decides to weaponise the vitality challenge".
"Over the last weeks, we now have seemed into all attainable disruption situations in case Russia decides to partially or fully disrupt fuel provides to the EU. And I can say that our fashions present that we are actually reasonably on the secure facet on this winter," she stated.
Russia has amassed as much as 150,000 troops alongside its shared border with Ukraine and in Belarus, in line with Washington. This has stoked fears that it's on the brink of invade its neighbour.
Moscow denies the accusation however has issued a listing of calls for to NATO together with a assure that Ukraine and Georgia won't ever be allowed to hitch the safety alliance and that allied troops be withdrawn from some japanese European international locations.
NATO has rejected these calls for and high-level diplomatic talks have been ongoing for weeks.
Within the meantime, NATO international locations — most EU member states, Canada, the UK, and the US — have drawn up a listing of financial sanctions they describe as "extreme" that they are going to impose on Russia ought to it transfer forward with a navy incursion into Ukraine.
The EU has already pressured that these sanctions would have "large" penalties for the Russian economic system but in addition by itself economic system and that Moscow might additionally retaliate by squeezing its fuel provides to the bloc.
The EU's dependence on Russian fuel
Over a fifth of energy era within the EU comes from liquified pure fuel (LNG) however about 90% of the bloc's fuel provides come from overseas. Russia, alone, provides about 40% of the EU's fuel.
A lot of the Russian fuel delivered to EU international locations transit by way of the Nord Stream pipeline that goes by way of Ukraine. However Gazprom, Russia's majority state-owned vitality firm, has lowered deliveries to Europe in latest months in what some commentators have described as an try and bully the bloc into approving the Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
The pipeline, accomplished in the summertime of 2021, bypasses Ukraine altogether to ship fuel from Russia to Germany by way of the Baltic Sea. Kyiv and Washington have decried it as a attainable device for Russia to stress Ukraine which might lose out on revenues and safety ensures if fuel headed for Europe not transits by way of its territory.
Decrease deliveries coupled with greater demand globally as economies get up following a COVID-induced coma has led to a value surge. Power costs throughout the eurozone had been in January 4 instances greater than they'd been on the similar interval in 2021.
EU member states have responded to those challenges by closely tapping into their fuel reserves. In keeping with Fuel Infrastructure Europe (GIE), an affiliation representing the pursuits of European fuel infrastructure operators, EU pure fuel storage is just 33% full. Germany warned final week that its pure fuel reserves have fallen to "worrying" ranges at round 35-36%.
US fuel deliveries rise sharply
Von der Leyen instructed lawmakers that the Fee is "at the moment in talks with numerous international locations which are able to step up their exports of liquefied pure fuel to the EU."
"This resulted in January in file deliveries of LNG fuel – greater than 120 vessels and 10 bcm of LNG. On high, because the annexation of Crimea, we now have elevated the variety of LNG terminals," she added.
The US provided 23% of the EU's LNG wants in 2021. Final month, the share rose to 46% with Europe the highest vacation spot for American LNG.
Among the many different international locations that would step up in case the EU wants it are Qatar, one of many world's largest producers of LNG, and Azerbaijan.
Nonetheless, the Fee chief famous that "one of many classes we will already draw from this disaster is that we should diversify our vitality sources, to do away with the dependency of Russian fuel, and closely put money into renewable vitality sources."
"They're clear and good for the planet, and they're home-grown and good for our independence," she concluded.
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