[Please find at the bottom a review of the latest articles and commentaries on the Energy Union]
LNG for the EU Energy Union
The 25
th of February, 2015, is a date to remember. The Commission Junker has found the energy to try and unite the Europe of Energy. The Commission has presented a strategy that announces rapid measures concerning the central problem of security of supply. It could not be otherwise when facing the risk of a gas blockade from the East and oil from the South.
The situation is clear and so are the targets. As less oil as possible, more renewables and energy efficiency. The priority is to make Europe a great platform made of copper, where energy runs without resistance and pollution and, during the transition, making the Mediterranean a major hub for natural gas.
Increasing internal connections is central. The European gas system would already be more independent if LNG had enough pipes to reach the markets of central Europe and of the peripheral countries. The new gas will arrive by ship, a more flexible method of transportation than pipelines. A new directive will design the strategy to implement the use of LNG also in transport, replacing oil.
ConferenzaGNL, which have advocated this change for three years, feels increasing responsibility as a meeting point and platform for constructive discussion between all players in the field of LNG, in its third meeting in Rome on 11-12 June 2015.
Rome is in the center of Italy, which is in the center of the Mediterranean Sea, the new platform of European energy security. Not surprisingly, the new European security strategy has started right after the crisis between Russia and Ukraine and was central to the Italian presidency of the European Council last year.
Gas at competitive pricewill soon arrive also from Mozambique and Australia, through the Suez Canal, and from the United States and Canada, through the Strait of Gibraltar, in addition to other traditional sources. Now we have to prepare urgently the receiving ports and distribution platforms.
Not by chance, the Italian government was the first to work on an LNG strategy, even before the Directive 94/2014 which provides for the planning of coastal depots and service stations for trucks and ships. The Italian Parliament, also with the support of ConferenzaGNL, has advocated and is currently working to make the Mediterranean an ECA area to remove sulfur from marine fuels, as in the North Sea, unifying at the same time the Environmental Europe.
In these days, the Italian gas network operatorSnam, leader of gas infrastructures in Europe, announced its entry into the small scale LNG activities and Fincantieri, leader for ferries, will make the first supply of LNG for a ship destined to Canada. At the center of the routes of the Mediterranean for over 2,000 years, Italy is the ideal platform for all companies involved in LNG.
Nonetheless, the task of ConferenzaGNL is just at the beginning, and we expect you all in Rome on Thursday 11 and Friday 12, June and then on Saturday and Sunday in Milan for EXPO 2015.
ConferenzaGNL Board
A review of the latest commentaries and article on the Energy Union:
The official communication press release can be found
here, while the full text is available
here. Concerning LNG, the text of Communication states:
We will explore the full potential of liquefied natural gas (LNG), including as a back-up in crisis situations when insufficient gas is coming into Europe through the existing pipeline system. Increases in LNG trade will help to bring world natural gas prices closer together. LNG prices have over recent years been higher compared to pipeline gas due in particular to high liquefaction, regasification and transportation costs and demand in Asia. In order to address these issues, the Commission will prepare a comprehensive LNG strategy, which will also look into the necessary transport infrastructure linking LNG access points with the internal market. The potential of gas storage in Europe and the regulatory framework needed to ensure sufficient gas in storage for winter will also be addressed in this context. The Commission will also work to remove obstacles to LNG imports from the US and other LNG producers.
and
- The Commission will prepare a comprehensive strategy for liquid natural gas (LNG) and its storage, and ¾ The Commission will work with Member States to develop access to alternative suppliers, including from the Southern Gas Corridor route, the Mediterranean and Algeria, in order to decrease existing dependencies on individual suppliers.
Furthermore, you can find:
-
Here the comment of environmentalists and Federpetroli;
-
Here the analysis by Stratfor;
-
Here five views from different stakeholders and specialists and
here an evaluation of the Communication, reported by Natural Gas Europe;
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Here a statement by Eurogas;
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Here the WWF comment;
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Here the statement by NGVA Europe;
Different opinions have been given on the Energy Union by:
- the European Environmental Agency director Hans Bruyninckx on
Euractiv;
-
Oil price magazine;
- several Members of the European Parliament on
The Parliament Magazine;
- the
Energy Post.
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