"South European Gas Ring Project: The Role of Turkey and Greece
5/6/2007 (Balkanalysis.com)
By Mehmet Efe Biresselioğlu
Today, Europe is a net importer of gas. Natural gas accounts for 25% of the European Union’s total energy consumption. The Union currently imports more then 40% of its natural gas needs, with the major suppliers being Russia, Norway and Algeria. It is expected by the European Commission that the EU’s dependency will rapidly increase in the coming decades. This import dependency will rise from 40% to 55% in 2010, to 67% in 2020, and to 81% in 2030, according to the Europe Energy Outlook 2020.i
The European Union is currently in need of diversifying its import dependency. Russia has the biggest stake in the imported natural gas consumption of Europe. Currently, however, Russia is not a reliable source for import as it has difficulties of various sorts with several former Soviet countries, as well as a rapidly growing domestic need for natural gas. Nevertheless, Russia will remain the prime supplier of the European Union as it has already existing deals and pipeline connections with the EUii, even though it faces difficulties in export due to the constraints in the region."
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