Russia has got one of the largest petroleum industries in the world. With a large quantity of reserves, it is also regarded as one of the largest exporters of natural gas. The country is also one of the largest producers of oil. Their reserves are ranked as the sixth largest. Overall, Russia is the fourth largest energy user. With the Russian invasion in the Ukraine, this landscape became more complex. Russia’s restriction on gas supplies to Europe was purposefully done to try and stop assistance from going to the Ukraine.
Some intricate future plans
European Union governments want Brussels to keep secret how they plan to phase out using Russian oil and gas by the end of 2027. The European Commission last month proposed legislation to phase out EU imports of Russian oil and gas – part of which would require countries to produce national plans setting out measures and timelines for how they will do this. EU governments are now negotiating the proposal and have demanded that the Commission keep those plans secret, a draft negotiating document showed.
“Those plans should be subject to the rules of professional secrecy and not be disclosed without the agreement of the respective Member State,” said the document, drafted by Denmark which holds the rotating EU presidency and leads negotiations among EU countries. Professional secrecy is applicable to information exchanged amongst competent authorities; this includes those established under the EU Directive 2022/2555. It also prohibits disclosure to any third party unless this is specified by the Union or the national law.
Unpacking the related exit plans
Countries’ plans should “describe intended measures at national or regional level to reduce demand, foster renewable energy production and ensure alternative supplies, as well as possible technical, contractual or regulatory barriers which may complicate the diversification process,” it added. Countries may want to avoid sharing information with markets that could affect gas prices or reveal sensitive information on their plans to source non-Russian fuel supplies.
While countries would still be obliged to submit their plans to Brussels, “professional secrecy” would mean the information would not be disclosed to any other person or authority, the document said. The Commission proposal had not confirmed whether or not the plans would be kept secret. A spokesperson for Denmark’s EU presidency declined to comment on the negotiations. EU countries’ diplomats will discuss the document next week.
A future without some infrastructure?
The negotiations are at an early stage and have not yet tackled issues including potential legal risks for companies that break their Russian gas contracts, EU diplomats said. According to statistical information of 2021, countries classed as Russia’s top five pipeline consumers are:
- Turkey
- Germany
- Netherlands
- Belarus
- Italy
Slovakia and Hungary still import Russian gas via pipeline. They have opposed the Russian gas ban, which Brussels designed so it can be legally passed without their support. However, Slovakia has said it will block new EU sanctions on Russia over its war in Ukraine – which require unanimous approval from all 27 EU countries – unless its concerns over gas supplies are resolved. EU countries’ ambassadors are due to discuss the sanctions package on Friday.
Prime Minister Robert Fico said on Thursday the EU had not yet addressed Slovakia’s concerns about high gas prices and demands for compensation for halting Russian gas imports. European Commission officials travelled to Bratislava last week for talks on the government’s concerns.
“At this point, we refuse to vote for the 18th package of sanctions,”
Fico said.
It seems that the long-term plans of the EU are to gradually start to restrict and also to ultimately ban the flow of gas from Russia across the continent. The timeframe that they set out for this is for the coming three years. The purpose being to push against the overall reliance on Moscow. Imports of natural gas via pipelines or as seaborne liquefied natural gas will be prohibited as from the beginning of 2026. Certain exceptional circumstances will apply to this.
GCN.com/REUTERS.