24-03-06
Europe must limit its energy dependence on Russia to 25 % and look actively
for alternative gas supplies in Kazakhstan and the Caspian Basin, European
Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs has told.
Speaking on the sidelines of a European Summit in Brussels, Piebalgs also said
he was convinced that Russia would go ahead building a new gas pipeline in the
Baltic Sea direct to Germany, bypassing Poland.
The comments come only a few weeks after Piebalgs visited Moscow and met with
Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Russians rebuffed the EU's attempts to
force them to open up their energy pipelines to foreign firms, while the EU
rejected Russian demands to allow its firms free access to its own distribution
networks.
"They didn't get too far" in the talks, Piebalgs admitted, though he said he
believed Putin's statements that Russia would be a reliable energy provider. He
also said Russia accepted reducing its EU market share from the present 35 %.
"The Russians don't want to have more than 25 % of our energy market,"
Piebalgs said. "They are satisfied with 25 % of our energy market."
It is in the interest of both the Russians and Europeans to diversify their
energy sources, particularly in gas, Piebalgs added. He said he soon would
travel to Kazakhstan to encourage the central Asian country to up its gas
production and build a new pipeline across the Caspian Sea, skirting Russia. The
Kazakhs "want our political backing" for these projects, he said.
"We should clearly say, we will back them and do all we can to help them."
Another sensitive issue with Russia concerns a proposed gas pipeline under
the Baltic Sea, direct to Germany. Piebalgs returned from Russia convinced that
the Kremlin will go ahead with the project, even if Germany pulls out. He
acknowledged that Poland "feels threatened" about being bypassed and that the
Baltics are frightened about potential ecological damage to their sea. Piebalgs,
who is Latvian, also believes that if the Russians build the link, the Germans
will connect their grid to it.
"If a pipe comes out and you ask, 'do you need some gas?' any country will
answer yes," Piebalgs said. "It is an easy thing to say."
His plan for a European-wide energy regulator has been misinterpreted, the
Commissioner insisted. The Commission already has wide antitrust powers to jolt
open cosseted national energy markets next year.
Now, in order to force companies to build new cross-border connectors and
integrate markets, it is pushing for the creation of a common European energy
regulator with the power to order grid companies to reinforce cross-border
links. A recent Commission study identified such bottlenecks as one of the major
reasons that monopolies exist.
But many governments fear that this will create, as Austrian Chancellor
Wolfgang Schuessel said, "a new super bureaucracy."
Piebalgs says "there has been a misunderstanding." He is not talking about
creating a "new physical body" but just talking about harmonizing different EU
energy regulations and encouraging the creations of a pan-European power
exchange, which would allow electricity to be bought and sold across borders. He
cites the regional Belpex exchange as a model.
"Theoretically being in Portugal you should be able to buy electricity from a
Finish provider," he says. "But that is not yet happening."
Source: Dow Jones Newswires