To what extent should the European Union be dependent on foreign sources of energy? That question is a matter of growing concern for EU leaders. Case in point: Natural gas.
by Paul Kieffer
When European Union Commission President José Manuel Barroso, EU chief foreign diplomat Javier Solana and Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel visited Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Black Sea resort of Sochi on May 25, they were not in a holiday mood. Instead, their agenda consisted mainly of two important questions for the Russian leader: What does the future hold for the EU-Russian economic partnership, and how dependable are Russian energy deliveries to Europe?
The meeting between Putin and his European visitors reflects Europe's increasing dependence on foreign energy supplies, primarily from the Persian Gulf and Russia. Of the two regions, Russia is currently the greater source of concern. Russia is viewed by many in Europe as using its vast energy resources to position itself as a global "energy player," a type of "fossil fuels superpower."
In an analysis published in November 2000 on the subject of energy security, the EU Commission warned that by the year 2030 Europe would be importing 90 percent of the petroleum it needs, up from the current 76 percent. The same trend is predicted for natural gas, the other leading component in Europe's energy mix. This year Europe will import about 40 percent of the natural gas it consumes. Three fourths of those imports come from Russia and the rest come mainly from the Persian Gulf. With Europe's own natural gas reserves being depleted—largely in the Netherlands and the North Sea—Russia will be supplying well over half the natural gas used in Europe by 2030.
Russia's energy giant Gazprom is already the dominant energy supplier for natural gas in several new EU countries in eastern Europe. It has a market share of 100 percent in the Baltic States and in Slovakia, 99 percent in Poland and 82 percent in the Czech Republic. Gazprom's current market share of 35 percent in Germany will jump in 2010 when the new North European Gas Pipeline comes on line, supplying Germany directly from Russia via a pipeline that will be laid on the floor of the Baltic Sea.
