• 14 Lug 2015

The European Commission is seeking opinions from stakeholders, in order to help it develop a strategy to explore the full potential of LNG and gas storage in the mid to long-term. The LNG strategy has been already annouced in the Energy Union Communication on the 25 February this year. This consultation, open until 30 September 2015, is a first step in developing that strategy. LNG - currently sourced by the EU mainly from Qatar, Algeria and Nigeria - is already used in the EU energy system, in particular in Spain, Portugal, France and the UK. But developments in the EU and elsewhere mean that the EU could widen its range of suppliers to countries such as the US, Canada and Australia. LNG could also help drive down energy prices by boosting competition on EU markets. Meanwhile, levels of gas storage have risen over the last 10 years in the EU, helping to balance the fluctuation in seasonal demand. Furthermore, storage has a key role to play in a crisis situation: It can react fast to sudden peaks of demand and supply disruptions since stored gas is often close to demand or can be easily transported via the pipeline system to places where needed. However, the Commission is keen to explore whether and how gas storage can be improved to boost security of supply. Full info on how to participate to the consulation are available here. Source: EU Commission Press Release