When the Gas Pumps in Europe Run Dry

Because of its dependence on imported energy, the EU is an economic giant standing on feet of clay.

by Paul Kieffer

It is unusual for a well-known European politician to make the rounds soliciting better trade conditions. It is even more unusual that two influential Europeans visit the same region within a matter of weeks to express Europe's interest in an important commodity. That's the way it was earlier this year when German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and EU Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs both visited the oil-rich Persian Gulf region.

In February Schroeder made a stop in Kuwait during his weeklong trip through seven Persian Gulf countries. There he expressed his unease about the high oil prices by stating, "We are very, very concerned." He added, "We are interested in the most reasonable oil price as possible." Schroeder also had a solution for rising oil prices: Increase production.

At the beginning of April Piebalgs also visited Kuwait, voicing interest in good trading relations with the Persian Gulf countries and other OPEC members. Piebalgs met with Kuwaiti Minister of Energy Sheik Ahmed Fahad al Ahmed al Sabah, who is also the chairman of OPEC, to discuss stabilizing the price of oil.

Europe's dependence on foreign energy

Thirty years after the oil shock resulting from the Yom Kippur War, Europe is still dependent on foreign energy sources. It has been possible to slow the consumption of oil through other sources of energy (especially natural gas) but not to reverse the ever-increasing demand. At the beginning of the 1970s it took 12 million barrels of oil to meet Europe's daily needs. By 2001, European consumption had grown to 14.4 million barrels daily.

Europe's energy demands increase 1 percent to 2 percent a year, small in comparison to the increased energy usage in the United States. Since 1991, oil consumption in the United States has increased 17 percent compared to 7 percent for the "old" European countries. However, its smaller increase in oil consumption does not change the fact that Europe is heavily dependent on foreign energy sources.

Read the full article at www.wnponline.org/wnp/wnp0506/gaspumps.htm

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