EU prepared for partial gas disruption by Russia

Efforts to ensure gas supplies elsewhere than Russia have paid off, says President of the European Commission.
BY RITZAU, TRANSLATED BY CHRISTOFFER ØSTERGAARD

The EU will be capable of handling the situation in the event of partial disruption of gas supply to Europe as part of the ongoing conflict on Ukraine.

The assurance comes from the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at a press conference Tuesday.

"Our models show that we are more or less on the safe side in the event of a partial disruption or further decrease in gas deliveries by Gazprom," says von der Leyen at a meeting in Strasbourg.

Russia is responsible for supplying around 40 percent of EU's natural gas. The price of gas has soared in Europe over the past weeks.

This is caused by a combination of factors, including rising demand from several countries after the pandemic and smaller supplies than usual from Russia.

At the same time, the crisis in Ukraine has fueled fears that Russia could be fixing to use gas supplies as a political weapon against the EU during negotiations.

This has led the EU to enter talks with countries like the US, Norway, Qatar, Egypt, Azerbaijan, Nigeria and South Korea on boosting supplies of gas to Europe.

"We have spoken to major suppliers of natural gas and asked if they would be willing to exchange contracts in favor of the EU," says von der Leyen.

"These efforts have now clearly paid off."

The President of the European Commission remarks that Japan is one of the nations that have agreed to redirect more shipments of natural gas to Europe.

In the near term, that means that the consequences of decreasing Russian gas supplies have been somewhat mitigated.

Demand for gas in Europe is also expected to go down as springtime and warmer temperatures take hold.

Europe's gas inventories currently sit at 34 percent.

Von der Leyen adds that further measures will be needed in the event that Russia turns off the gas to Europe completely.

(Quotes translated from Danish)

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