Title: Europe's Strategic Dependence on Russian Energy | The Heritage Foundation
Headings: Europe's Strategic Dependence on Russian Energy
Europe's Strategic Dependence on Russian Energy
Ariel Cohen
Director, CENRG and Senior Fellow, IAGS
Energy Dependence on Russia
Implications for European Energy Security
Policy Implications for the United States
Authors
Ariel Cohen
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Content: 14] This agreement would practically integrate Austria's gas transit and storage networks (existing and planned) into Gazprom's expanding network of dependencies. Moreover, Gazprom intends to use Austria as a transit corridor to capture other EU markets. It is planning to develop a Central European Gas Hub and Gas transit Management Center, the largest in continental Europe, at Baumgarten near Vienna. [ 15] In July 2007, OMV announced its intent to take over MOL, a private Hungarian energy company, which will further strengthen Russia's grip on European energy infrastructure. Locking in Supply. Russia's second tactic is to lock in supply by consolidating its control of strategic energy infrastructure, most notably pipelines, throughout Europe and Eurasia. Russia is using outright ownership and joint ventures to control supply, sale, and distribution of natural gas and is buying up major energy infrastructure, such as pipelines, refineries, electric grids, and ports. In 2002, Russian state-owned Transneft attempted to gain control of the Mazeikiu Nafta refinery in Lithuania and the Ventspils oil-export terminal in Latvia. When the two governments refused to sell their stakes to Transneft, Moscow sharply cut oil deliveries, forcing Ventspils to obtain oil by rail. [ 16] Russian pursuit of the Lithuanian refinery was cut short when the Polish company PKN Orlen bought the refinery in 2006, [17] but Moscow is still pursuing the Latvian terminal.