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: The EU imports almost half of its natural gas and 30 percent of its oil from Russia. [ 6] Eastern Europe consumes even higher percentages of Russian gas. Table 1 shows the major European recipients of Russian natural gas exports, ranked from most dependent to least dependent. In 2006, oil imports from Russia and Central Asia reached 5.9 million barrels per day (290.8 million tons). Russia also supplied some 132 billion cubic meters (bcm) of natural gas. [ 7] Rising demand indicates that Europe's dependence on Russian energy will continue to grow. Russia has the largest proven natural gas reserves (1,688 trillion cubic feet) and the seventh-largest proven oil reserves  (60.0 billion to 74.4 billion barrels) in the world, [8] and large areas of eastern Siberia and the Arctic are still unexplored. Total Russian net oil exports reached 7 million barrels per day in 2006. [ 9] Chart 1 and Chart 2 show the current and projected increased levels of Russian oil and gas exports. Russian Energy Strategy and Tactics
Russia's energy strategy seeks to make Europe increasingly dependent on Russian oil and gas.