European Union countries agreed on emergency measures to reduce their gas use in the coming winter. The Czech Republic, which holds the EU’s rotating presidency, wrote on Twitter: “This was not an impossible task. Ministers have reached a political agreement on reducing gas demand before next winter.”
Russia had announced the reduction of gas shipments to Europe via the “Nord Stream” pipeline.
The European Union plans to adopt a voluntary 15 percent reduction in the use of natural gas from next August, due to concerns that Russia will cut off fuel supplies.
Bueno said, in exclusive statements to Sky News Arabia, that “it is clear that Russia has turned energy into a weapon and is using it against the European Union, and it cannot be ruled out that Russia will take more decisions to cut supplies to countries or companies in the coming weeks, although the risks are Regarding the security of supplies is not imminent, the European gas system has reacted well and has so far been able to absorb the supply cuts.”
energy saving strategy
“Of course we have worked extensively to enhance our readiness in recent months, and we have also enhanced our energy savings and efficiency,” the EU spokesperson added.
He pointed to the identification of a number of measures in the European Union’s energy saving strategy that would rapidly reduce oil and gas consumption by 5 percent in the very short term.
Moreover, stock mobilization is over 60 percent across the European Union, well above the historical average, Bueno said.
He stressed that these efforts for diversification “began to bear fruit.” The share of Russian oil imports into the European Union decreased from 45 percent in April of last year, to 31 percent in April of this year.
As for the gas pipeline, Bueno explained that the decline is greater than 40 percent to 26 percent, and this was reflected in the highest levels of liquefied natural gas imports ever, as 12.6 billion cubic meters were imported into the European Union last April, and this represents An increase of 36 percent in the last year.
“Energy efficiency is of course a key pillar of our strategy, and the European Commission has made concrete proposals to enhance the EU’s readiness for this winter,” he added.
And energy ministers in the European Union discussed a European draft law requiring member states to reduce demand for natural gas by 15 percent in the period from August to March.
This may necessitate voluntary steps to reduce gas consumption, as a result of low inventories, which constitutes an incentive to impose next mandatory steps across the 27-nation bloc.
Since the launch of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine in February and the West’s imposition of economic sanctions, 12 European Union countries have faced a halt or reduction in Russian gas shipments.
These developments come at a time when the price of European gas continues to rise, as it recorded its highest level since its record price in March, a day after Gazprom announced a new reduction in its supplies to Europe via the Nord Stream pipeline.
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