When it comes to securing Europe's gas supply, the Commission wants to focus more on transit countries. "In terms of security of supply, developing the mutually beneficial relationship with Turkey could be a very important priority," DG Energy Deputy Director General Matthew Baldwin told ITRE on Monday night. He said the EU must keep in mind that transit countries also want to secure their supplies and may claim some additional gas supplies for themselves.
The Southern Gas Corridor, through which gas from Azerbaijan already flows to the EU, passes through Turkey. By 2027, Azerbaijan aims to double the annual volume through the pipeline to 20 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year. Turkey secured part of the total volume long ago.
An additional eight bcm is expected to flow to the EU from Algeria in 2023, up from an additional four bcm this year, Baldwin said. In the next year and a half, the EU could also receive two to five bcm from Israel via a detour through Egypt, he added. In the years after that, the amount could increase to seven bcm. "We are turning over every stone in the quest for gas," Baldwin said.
Federal government to nationalize former Gazprom Germania
A delegation will travel to Trinidad and Tobago the week after next. An energy dialogue with Asian countries is planned for next year for the first time, he said. In Malaysia, there will be a conference with possible suppliers of natural gas and hydrogen. Plans for a ministerial conference with Japan and South Korea, as well as the United States and Norway, had already become known at the last EU Council of Ministers in Luxembourg.
Currently, small amounts of Russian gas still flow to the EU via Turkey and Ukraine. The most favorable strategic moment for Moscow to interrupt transit via Ukraine could be in January or February, warned Klaus-Dieter Borchardt of Baker
McKenzie yesterday at a discussion held by think tank Epico. With the current high temperatures, this makes no sense, the former Commission official said.
The former Gazprom Germania could also participate in the joint EU gas purchase. In the draft of the latest emergency regulation, the Council had included a passage that would also allow former Russian companies to participate in the planned energy platform. Yesterday, the German government nationalized the company, which now operates as Securing Energy for Europe (Sefe). The Ministry of Economics justified corresponding capital measures with the threat of insolvency, which would endanger the security of supply in Germany.
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