16-06-05
Decreasing the European Union's dependence on Russian energy supplies is unlikely, said an EU representative.
"We do not have a choice," Francois Lamoureux, European Commission director
general of energy and transport, told. "We import large volumes of gas and oil
from Russia."
Oil and gas production among EU member countries is decreasing and The North Sea continues to decline in output.
"Therefore, the EU does not have many alternatives at present," said Lamoureux.
"There are political problems with Iran. The situation in Iraq is rather odd."
Although Caspian oil and gas resources are attractive, supplies are limited
compared with import volumes coming out of Russia.
Lamoureux also expressed the EC's interest in seeing the Ukrainian-Polish Odessa-Brody oil pipeline expand to Plotsk to increase supplies from the Caspian and possibly decrease imports from Russia. The Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline is also expected to start pumping Caspian oil soon.
"In order to decrease our dependency, we work a lot on energy saving, and we
achieved rather positive results," said Lamoureux. "The economy regime, the use
of new technologies, anything that might increase the effectiveness of energy
industry is a priority for the EU today."
Source: Dow Jones