EU reviews contingency plans in case of gas supply interruptions due to crisis with Russia

The European Union (EU) is reviewing contingency plans in the event of gas supply disruptions, although countries’ storage and infrastructure should buffer major disruptions, the EU’s energy policy chief said.

Escalating tensions between the West and Russia over Ukraine have raised concerns about Russian gas flows to Europe, prompting the European Commission and the United States to examine alternatives.

Kadri Simsonenergy commissioner of the 27-country bloc, said the results of the review are expected by the end of this month.

“It is important that all Member States prepare and review contingency plans to ensure they are adequate”, declared Simson before the Energy Commission of the European Parliament. “The Commission is carrying out an assessment of the situation at European level in collaboration with the Member States”.

EU rules require each member country to have a plan for responding to a gas crisis, including market-based measures, such as requiring suppliers to quickly find alternatives, and government interventions, such as ordering companies to pull the plug. industrial facilities.

“We believe that the gas reserves available in the EU and our good network of LNG terminals will protect us against major security of supply problems.“, I consider simson.

The “political issue” is whether Europe will be able to withstand prolonged high prices, which have soared in recent months as imports from Russia have been lower than expected, prompting EU governments to apply tax breaks. , subsidies and other measures to protect consumers from higher bills.

Russia supplies around 40% of the gas in the EU.

European imports of liquefied natural gas reached a record in January, with 11.8 bcm, of which almost 45% came from the United States.

Analysts say that a further increase in deliveries of LNG may be limited by global liquefaction capacity and existing supplier contracts to ship cargo to Asia.

qatarone of the world’s leading gas exporters, said this week that it could not unilaterally replace Europe’s energy needs in the event of a shortage.

Europe’s gas storage chambers are currently less than 40% full, down more than ten percentage points from a year ago, according to data from Gas Infrastructure Europe.