Tag: Gas

The nuclear disaster in Fukushima and subsequent scepticism vis-a-vis nuclear power has increased the chances of the up-and-down Nabucco pipeline project materialising in the future, the European Union's energy commissioner has said.

China and Russia are still seeking agreement in a fractious dispute over Russian gas supplies vital for feeding China's booming economy, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said today (16 June).

Central and Eastern European gas markets have long suffered from isolation and fragmentation, leaving them vulnerable to both supply disruptions and to monopoly pricing power. However, new research suggests that countries collectively negotiating with gas exporters could remedy this problem, argues economist and energy researcher Edward Hunter Christie.

Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom said yesterday (7 April) it would treat Ukraine as a domestic consumer, cutting its gas bills by $8 billion (€5.59 billion) per year, if it joined Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan in a customs union.

General Electric, ranked by Forbes as the second largest company in the world after JPMorgan Chase, has released a study warning that 5% of the world's natural gas production is wasted by burning or 'flaring' unused gas.

Germany's Wintershall, a unit of the world's largest chemical company BASF, is set to join Russia's South Stream pipeline that will carry gas under the Black Sea to Europe, a source close to energy giant Gazprom announced on Friday (18 March).

The EU is putting in place an ambitious energy policy in a bid to improve security of supplies and achieve bold CO2 reduction targets. But how does the EU decision-making process function on energy-related issues? And what is the role of the industry sector and interest groups?

On the sidelines of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's visit to Brussels yesterday (24 February), Moscow won the European Union's blessing to hold a promotional Brussels event to showcase the South Stream gas pipeline, which is largely seen as a competitor to the EU-favoured Nabucco pipeline.

EU officials are pushing for a merger of two strategic pipeline projects – Nabucco and its smaller Italian rival ITGI – to help secure gas supplies from Azerbaijan to Europe, according to news wire reports yesterday (17 February). The European Commission later confirmed it was encouraging projects in the 'Southern Gas Corridor' to cooperate.

On the eve of the 4 February EU energy summit, several prime ministers will gather in Brussels to mark their agreement for the North-South gas corridor, a project aimed at removing internal bottlenecks for gas transport. The announcement was made by Commission President José Manuel Barroso yesterday (31 January).

Poland and Slovakia have agreed to launch a feasibility study for a natural gas pipeline known as the 'Poland-Slovakia interconnection'. A decision on whether to proceed with the project will be made in 2012. EurActiv Poland and EurActiv Slovakia report.

The European Commission is today much more receptive to the potential of natural gas as a climate-friendly and cheap energy source, said Jean-François Cirelli, president of Eurogas and vice-chairman of GDF-Suez, in an exclusive interview with EurActiv.

Russia wants to take part in the privatisation of Polish companies, its president said yesterday (6 December) during a visit designed to draw a line under old disputes and highlight burgeoning economic ties. From Warsaw, Medvedev left for Brussels, where an EU-Russia summit is being held today.

Pipeline projects with a political design, such as the EU-favoured Nabucco pipeline and the Gazprom-sponsored South Stream, are expensive compared to similar projects based on cost effectiveness, Kjetil Tungland, managing director of the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), told EurActiv in an interview.

Officials from Russia and the European Commission yesterday (22 November) marked the 10-year anniversary of EU-Russia energy dialogue and devised ways to overcome the present "lack of trust," as Russian Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko described the state of relations.

The European Commission has asked Bulgaria to change a 2008 bilateral agreement with Russia, providing for full and unrestricted transit of Russian gas across the EU newcomer, a spokesperson for the EU executive told the press today (15 November).

Poland and Russia are due to sign an agreement in Brussels today (4 November) that will see Gazprom increase its deliveries to Warsaw by 38%. Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger said the treaty would have "EU legitimacy".

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and his Bulgarian counterpart Boyko Borissov have agreed to set up a joint venture for the Bulgarian section of the South Stream pipeline, giving it a competitive edge over the competing Nabucco project supported by the EU. Dnevnik, EurActiv's partner in Bulgaria, contributed to this article.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov told journalists yesterday (13 October) that he will seek to renegotiate the country's "unfair" gas agreement with Russia when he meets his counterpart Vladimir Putin on 27 October.

The final decision on investment in the Nabucco pipeline will definitely not be taken this year and has been  delayed until 2011 because gas supply talks with Azerbaijan are dragging on, an Austrian newspaper reported today (8 October).

The European Parliament yesterday (21 September) endorsed a new regulation to prop up Europe's preparedness to deal with gas supply crises.

Poland may face natural gas shortages later this year as a result of delays in signing a long-term gas supply deal with Russia, the European Commission said on 17 September. Brussels says Poland is preventing EU companies from buying its surplus Russian gas, infringing EU internal market rules.

Berlin is opposed to Poland receiving an EU grant to construct an LNG gas terminal on its Baltic coast due to environmental concerns. But the Polish press argues that the real cause of Germany's unease is that the new terminal would compete with the Nord Stream gas pipeline.

The Nabucco pipeline project has taken another step forward by ordering engineering work for two feeder lines from Turkey to Iraq and Georgia. However, a third planned feeder line from Turkey to Iran has been put on the back-burner due to political considerations, the consortium announced.