Tag: Gas

Europe should turn to natural gas in its search for the affordable and reliable energy sources of the future, energy company representatives said at the European Business Summit (EBS) yesterday (1 July).

EU member state representatives approved on Friday (25 June) a compromise reached between the EU institutions on a new regulation to safeguard security of gas supplies.

Ukraine can transit more gas through its territory to the EU to compensate for the reduced gas flow across Belarus, which resulted from the latter's payment conflict with Russian monopolist Gazprom, Kiev announced yesterday (23 June).

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told the gas monopoly Gazprom to cut gas supplies to Belarus, the Kremlin's press office said today (21 June), in a move which it is feared may affect supplies to Europe.

Gazprom, the Russian state-owned gas monopoly, is ready to exclude Bulgaria from its planned South Stream pipeline, apparently in retaliation to Sofia's decision to scrap an oil pipeline designed to circumvent the Bosphorus strait, the Russian daily Kommersant writes today (17 June).

Shale gas cannot be seen yet as a game changer in Europe as it is in the United States, where roughly 50% of the country's needs are met by developing unconventional gas. The conclusion was reached by international experts at a public event held in Brussels yesterday (7 June).

A gas pipeline project – the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) linking Greece to Italy – came under the spotlight yesterday (20 May), fuelling competition in a key section of the EU's so-called 'southern gas corridor', where two more planned pipelines are bidding for the same markets.

By pushing for the Nabucco pipeline, the European Union has signalled its obsession with reducing its dependence on Russian gas. But replacing it with gas from Turkmenistan, an authoritarian country where the EU exerts even less influence, would not improve the situation, a Central Asia expert told EurActiv Germany in an interview.

Russia's gas export monopoly Gazprom, which is seeking a merger with Ukraine's state energy firm, yesterday (13 May) rejected Kiev's idea of inviting firms from the European Union to join potential talks. In the meantime, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich rejected the Gazprom takeover.

The outcome of the latest Gas Exporting Countries Forum (Gaspec) meeting held in Oran, Algeria, "was far from explosive for gas-producing states," writes Matthew Hulbert, senior fellow at the Zürich-based Centre for Security Studies, in an exclusive op-ed for EurActiv.

Austria joined the Gazprom-sponsored South Stream gas pipeline project on 24 April, marking the beginning of a new phase of competition between the pipeline and its rival Nabucco, which is designed to bring gas to Europe from sources other than Russia.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich meets his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine today (21 April) for talks which Kiev hopes will lead to Moscow cutting the price of natural gas supplies. The deal is expected to allow Russia and the EU to co-manage and upgrade Ukraine's outdated pipeline system.

Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger arrived in Russia yesterday (7 April) for his first official visit outside the EU. During his stay, Oettinger will attend celebrations marking the launch of construction work on the Nord Stream gas pipeline.

The completion of the Nabucco gas pipeline may be delayed by four years to 2018, the European Union Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said in an interview published in the Sueddeutsche Zeitung on Thursday (25 March).

South Stream and Nabucco, the two competing gas pipeline projects supported by Russia and the EU respectively, should combine efforts in a joint cost-cutting drive, according to Eni, an Italian oil company with a stake in South Stream.

Ukraine's parliament dismissed the government of Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko yesterday (3 March), giving her rival, newly-elected President Viktor Yanukovich, the difficult task of stitching together a new ruling coalition.

European integration is the key priority for Ukraine, the country's new president, Viktor Yanukovich, told the Brussels press yesterday (1 March). On his first foreign trip in his new capacity, he met EU leaders but neglected to call in at NATO headquarters.

Viktor Yanukovich will meet European Union leaders next Monday on his first foreign trip as Ukraine's president, opting to visit Brussels before Russia, EU officials said on 23 February.

A relatively abundant, cheap and clean source of energy, natural gas is becoming an increasingly essential part of Europe's energy mix, winning supporters for a variety of uses ranging from power generation, household heating and transport to fertiliser, plastics, and other manufacturing products.

Italy's Eni has offered to sell its international gas pipelines, worth some 1.5 billion euros, in a move that should help the oil and gas major avoid a hefty antitrust fine and ease regulatory pressure.

Kazakhstan will prioritise inter-religious tolerance, an area where it has achieved substantial successes, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev, chairperson-in-office of the OSCE (Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe), told EurActiv in an exclusive interview, setting out his country's goals for its chairmanship of the organisation in 2010.

Italy's Eni SpA is close to reaching a deal with the European Union over international gas transit pipelines, which could involve selling all or some of its assets to avoid a possible antitrust fine, sources said.

The new East Siberia-Pacific Ocean (ESPO) oil pipeline is expected "to strengthen Russia's position on the global raw materials market," writes Wojciech Konończuk, an analyst at the Warsaw-based Centre for Eastern Studies, in a recent paper.

European Union regulators accepted on Thursday (3 December) proposals by French utility GDF Suez to settle antitrust charges and give rivals easier access to the French gas market.