EU energy policy must go global, Russia argues

Europe’s common energy policy risks taking a parochial approach to a global problem, two of the EU’s largest energy partners, Russia and Ukraine, have indicated.

“When you start to think about energy security, you must discuss global energy security, because there is no other type,” Russian energy minister Viktor Khristenko said.

..He said the lion’s share of new oil resources found in eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East will go to the EU and US via the Barents Sea, instead of to China.

Russia is also in talks to build subterranean gas reservoirs in Germany, Belgium and Hungary.

But Mr Krishtenko complained that Gazprom is being kept out of other investments in EU energy infrastructure in the same way that Indian-owned steel firm Mittal is facing opposition to its takeover of its European rival, Arcelor.

EU Observer