The security of gas supply was highlighted as a topic of concern this week at the Intergas Summit in Nice.
More than half of the energy consumed in EU is imported. EU is highly dependent regarding crude oil (by more than 90%) and natural gas (66%). The total bill for imported energy is more than 1bn Euros ($1.06bn) per day.
In early 2016, the European Commission presented a proposal for a review of the regulation concerning measures to safeguard the security of gas supply, as part of the Energy Security Package.
“Basic gas infrastructures, including transmission pipelines, storage facilities and LNG regasification terminals, are the fundamentals of the European energy system. They are essential elements to deliver the EU Energy Policy targets, i.e., sustainability, security of supply and competitiveness,” Francisco Pablo de la Flor, Director of Regulation from Enagas, said.
As gas plays an increasingly important role in the energy sector, it is important to note that well supplied markets do not mean that gas supply is entirely secure. Also, lack of investments into development could pose the risk of tightening the market for the next decade.
Chair of the GIE Security of supply task force, Christophe Poillion, represented the stress tests that were carried out by the European Commission in 2014, indicating that some additional infrastructures are still needed in specific regions.
“Solidarity between member states is necessary to make the best use of existing infrastructures and the various gas supply sources, including LNG,” he said.
He also added that the physical availability of gas and in particular the level of gas storage across the winter season is an important factor in the ability to face critical situations.
LNG trade is expanding and the globalisation of gas is increasing. This leads to interactions between gas and the rest of the energy system. It creates an environment, where shocks in one region impact another. Therefore, a traditional approach when focusing only on a particular region, is no longer an option.
Keisuke Sadamori, director of International Energy Agency, said, “Today, there is a need for a broader approach to gas market security covering both the security and transparency aspects of the LNG value chain and the demand side aspects of supply security. In this context, the opportunities and limitations for gas security coming from the increased globalisation of gas market must be explored”.
Security of gas supply is a trending topic both globally and in Europe. As head of development from Energinet.dk, Soren Hansen, said, “The Swedish-Danish energy market is today a part of a well-functioning West-European gas market with more or less same independent gas market prices in UK, Benelux, France, Germany, Sweden and Denmark”.
Other CEE markets, such as Poland and Lithuania, are also developing a new LNG infrastructure and new integration programmes that secure alternative firm supplies and market prices.
The Intergas Summit, organised by Wisdom Events, attracted oil & gas professionals from around the world to gather in France, Nice. This year, the Intergas event is focusing on LNG, but it is also a platform where specialists discuss the future of natural gas, increasing demand of sustainable energy supply and ways of reducing greenhouse emissions.
