While the EU is mired in conflicts between east, south and west over over finance, climate policy and refugees, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is wooing 16 Central and Eastern European leaders at a China-CEE summit in Suzhou. It is all part of the Chinese dream of creating a Jeremy Rifkin-esque infrastructurally and digitally integrated economic space spanning the vast Eurasian continent, writes journalist Pepe Escobar. Some years from now German … [Read more...]
The case against Nord Stream 2
By opening up an additional route for cheap Russian gas to Germany, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project may look like a good deal for Europe. However, its advantages are primarily short term, writes Agata Loskot-Strachota of the Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW) in Poland. In the longer term the pipeline increases the possibilities for Russiaâs excessive influence on the European gas market, undermines the policy goals of the Energy Union, and … [Read more...]
EU’s first State of the Energy Union report: how it will deliver on climate and energy goals for 2030
The EUâs first-ever âState of the Energy Unionâ report is determinedly optimistic on progress, but offers little new information and appears to take just a small step towards resolving the biggest challenge of all: uniting national interests around EU priorities. Published by the European Commission on 18 November, the report is accompanied by a whole suite of studies in areas from energy security to climate action. The package sets out … [Read more...]
Klaus SchĂ€fer, future CEO of E.ON spin-off Uniper: “EU should set a target for gas”
The EU should define how much gas it wants by when, and recognise that Nord Stream 2 can provide additional security of supply, argues Klaus SchĂ€fer, the incoming CEO of E.ON spin-off Uniper in this exclusive interview with Energy Post. SchĂ€fer, who is currently Board member of the E.ON Group, says Europe is further away than ever from a single market for electricity and calls on policymakers to recognise that security of supply has a cost. He … [Read more...]
Why Brussels should not interfere with Nord Stream 2
In its efforts to increase European energy security and create a common European energy market â and ultimately an Energy Union worth its label â the European Commission preeminently emphasizes the diversification of supply routes. For this reason it has criticised the Nord Stream 2 project of Gazprom and a number of European companies. But while diversification certainly remains one of the basic principles of energy security, it is only one of … [Read more...]
viEUws Brussels Briefing on Energy: all you need to know for October/November
Hughes Belin gives details on what to expect in the first State of the Energy Union report due from European Commission Vice-President, MaroĆĄ Ć efÄoviÄ, on 18 November. In the meantime, he reports on the official signing off of a new gas interconnector between Lithuania and Poland, and looks ahead to an EU LNG strategy due next year. A public consultation on redesigning the European electricity market has closed and legislation on the back of … [Read more...]
How Russia is plotting to split OPEC
Russiaâs geopolitical strategy, including its intervention in Syria, is all about energy, writes Dalan McEndree of Oilprice.com. According to McEndree, President Putin is aiming to split OPEC into two blocs â the haves (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and Qatar) and the have-nots (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Algeria, Venezuela. Nigeria) â with Russia supporting the have-nots. In this way Putin tries to pressure Saudi Arabia to reverse its oil policy, which is … [Read more...]
Natural gas methane problem? It’s overstated
The role of natural gas as a âbridge fuelâ has been called into question by critics who argue that methane leakage rates from gas production and transport could outweigh the lower CO2 emissions associated with gas. However, according to Alex Trembath, policy associate at the Breakthrough Institute, this is not what most of the scientific literature says. âMethane leakage is a minor factor in determining the benefit of gas versus coal and methane … [Read more...]
Why Ukraine has to reform its gas sector
Ukraine has embarked on âthe mother of all reformsâ: that of the gas sector. This is one of the most important and most difficult reforms Ukraine has to undertake. Yet without the marketisation of gas prices and an improvement in Naftogazâs financial standing, it will be impossible to reform Ukraineâs public finances and end the long-standing economic crisis. Energy sector reform is a central goal of the post-Euromaidan government and indeed the … [Read more...]
The Eurasian Big Bang: how China and Russia are carving out their own world order
While politicians in the United States are outdoing each other condemning the Iran nuclear agreement, the rest of the world is moving on, writes Asia Times correspondent Pepe Escobar. Virtually unreported by western media, China, Russia, India, Iran and other nations are establishing financial, economic, political and energy infrastructure partnerships that are changing global relations irrevocably. The EU meanwhile is mostly ignored. … [Read more...]
Europe’s gas demand is falling. Doesn’t anybody notice?
Gas demand has consistently been overestimated by EU bodies in recent years, write Dave Jones of Sandbag and Jonathan Gaventa and Manon Dufour of E3G. Even today, with gas demand at its lowest since 1995, the possibility of lower future demand is hardly taken into account. As a result, the EUâs energy security strategy, focused on sourcing more gas, may be misguided. In addition, infrastructure investment may be wasted. Time for a reality check. … [Read more...]
Image of gas suffers another blow as trilateral gas talks fail
Russia, Ukraine and the EU failed to reach an agreement to govern gas flows between Russia and Ukraine at a meeting in Vienna because of a âlack of political willâ. European Commission Vice President for Energy Union MaroĆĄ Ć efÄoviÄ is frustrated with the Ukrainians as much as with the Russians. âThe lack of a deal is not good for the image of Russia as a reliable supplier or Ukraine as a reliable transit countryâ, he said. He added that âGazprom … [Read more...]
Gazprom deals deepen EU gas dilemmas
Gazprom has been very active in Europe recently, signing a strategic cooperation agreement with Shell, an agreement to build a second Nord Stream pipeline with Shell, E.on and OMV, and a memorandum with the Greek government about building an extension of its Turkish Stream project. All of these initiatives fit perfectly with Gazpromâs strategy, write Szymon KardaĆ and Agata Loskot-Strachota of the Centre for Eastern Studies (OSW) in Warsaw. But … [Read more...]
Going for gas: the risky strategy of the worldâs largest companies
They are the biggest companies in the world and they are making a huge bet: they are staking their â and our â future on natural gas. At the World Gas Conference in Paris, the major oil companies all avowed their belief that gas will be the worldâs âfuel of choiceâ, because it is âthe cleanest fossil fuelâ, âabundantâ and âcompetitiveâ. But Karel Beckman argues they are overstating the case for gas. And may even be betting on the wrong horse. … [Read more...]
Exclusive – JĂ©rĂŽme Ferrier, President International Gas Union: âYou cannot equate gas with coal or oil. You have to discriminate!â
Natural gas can help safeguard the planet: it can become the worldâs major energy source, be a factor for peace and help save the climate, says JĂ©rĂŽme Ferrier, President of the International Gas Union (IGU) and the French Gas Association in an interview with Energy Post. But, he adds, to enable gas to fulfill these roles, policymakers will have to make a clear choice in favour of gas over oil and coal. âThey have to discriminate!â … [Read more...]
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