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A technician checks meters at VNG’s underground gas storage facility in Germany. archive photo

Expert Kolobanov: European consumers are limited in substituting Russian gas

MOSCOW, May 11 – RIA Novosti. Sergei Kolobanov, Deputy Head of the Fuel and Energy Complex Economy Department, shared his opinion with RIA Novosti.

“Europe relies on phasing out Russian gas, but most of the proposed measures are about reducing gas consumption, not diversifying supply, which has very limited opportunities in 2022. In terms of gas replacement. Pipeline supplies from Russia, Norway, Algeria and Azerbaijan. options are being considered, but this is a drop in the ocean – in total this year, not more than 7-8 billion cubic meters could be obtained, taking into account constraints on the resource base and infrastructure,” says the agency’s interlocutor.

Also, the analyst noted that Algeria has a reserve for pipeline capacity in the direction of Spain, but the Iberian Peninsula still has very limited gas ties with France, and it is only a matter of years before the MidCat pipeline project between the countries can be resumed.

An increase in the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe this year is also possible on a not so significant scale – up to 20 billion cubic meters, since there is little free (non-contract) LNG volume on the world market added that.

The main resource for Europe is to save gas consumption, both due to the planned increase in electricity generation with renewable energy sources and nuclear power plants, and because of the savings in energy consumption of households.

In March, the European Commission proposed the development of a special plan for the European Union that could reduce Russian gas demand by two-thirds – that is, about 100 billion cubic meters – by 2022. European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said last week that as part of the upcoming sixth package of sanctions against Russia, the commission will propose a phased ban on all Russian oil imports to the European Union.

Dmitry Birichevsky, director of the Department of Economic Cooperation of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the rejection of Russian oil and gas would have enormous consequences for the European and world economies. According to him, Europe is very dependent on Russian gas and oil. He said even if he switched to total savings, found suppliers in other parts of the world, and switched to renewable energy sources, he could only replace 80% of energy sources in the “best-ideal scenario”. Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said experts were confident that the record highs in energy prices in March caused by the sanctions against Russia were not the limit.

Source: Ria

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