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: Work with key European governments to address vulnerabilities that result from overreliance on a single oligopolistic energy supplier-Russia. They should encourage development of EU-wide natural gas reserves, increase the consumption of liquefied natural gas, and expand the nuclear, coal, and renewable energy sectors. Support diversification of energy transportation routes in Eurasia, especially oil and gas pipelines that link Central Asian producers to European markets, bypassing Russia. Continue efforts to bring Russia into full compliance with the Energy Charter to increase predictability and transparency in energy markets. Energy Dependence on Russia
Europe is hungry for energy. In 2006, the 25 EU members consumed 1,722.8 million tons of oil equivalent (mtoe). Nearly two-thirds came from hydrocarbons: 706.3 million tons of oil (14.9 million barrels per day) and 420.6 mtoe (476.4 billion cubic meters) of natural gas. The remaining 34.6 percent came from coal, nuclear, and renewable sources. [ 5]
EU energy security already depends heavily on Russia.