Uphill Road for Europe to Kick Russian Gas Habit

Analysts say profound questions remain beyond next winter about whether Europe can ever guarantee adequate and stable supplies of natural gas from Russia, its largest supplier.

Several initiatives are advancing, but officials concede many of the proposals or projects are years off, and analysts say that some may never be realized because of political sensitivities over control of energy supplies.
But even Mr. Piebalgs had to admit that he could not rule out that supplies might be squeezed, especially if talks under way in Brussels this summer between Russia and Ukraine to resolve their continuing payment dispute collapse.

“If anything, we have seen yet more evidence of just how much of a bind Europe is in over energy this week,” said Simon Pirani, a senior research fellow at the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, a research center in Britain.

Until recently, natural gas was relatively abundant in Europe. But supplies from the North Sea are being depleted fast. While Norway still produces about 15 percent of E.U. requirements, Russia already supplies about 25 percent, and its share of the European market is expected to rise drastically on current trends.

New York Times