Interconnections that run both ways have become as important as having more secure natural gas supplies, Maros Sefcovic, vice-president of the European Commission’s Energy Union, said on June 25 in Washington, DC.
“I am confident that by the end of the mandate in March 2019, we will have heard from European Union member states on where they want to fit into the system,” Sefcovic said in his keynote address to the Atlantic Council’s discussion of Central and Eastern Europe’s energy needs in the 21st century.
The proposed Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline “clearly is on the agenda,” Sefcovic said. “I’m glad we’re hearing different views in Germany on this very political project because its sponsors have insisted that it’s purely commercial.”
Finding a long-term solution for Ukraine’s role as a transit point also is being discussed, he said. “We have a common interest in greater, better-performing Ukraine. We should look for long-term bookings with commercially viable buyers,” Sefcovic said.
He said the EC is using all its legal means to make certain that if Nord Stream 2 is built, the Gazprom-backed 746-mile system respects European rules and laws. “But it’s essential that all of the political implications are addressed,” Sefcovic declared.
He said the EC is not saying anything new but is simply clarifying that laws must be followed. “We also need to make the case that it makes commercial sense to invest in making Ukraine a better transit point,” Sefcovic said.
“The EU and the US have worked very well together in getting the Southern Gas Corridor built and more interconnections developed,” he said. “But Europe also needs more LNG import terminals, and the US should be ready to help invest in them, even if they don’t import US LNG directly.”
Sefcovic noted that US LNG already has transformed Europe’s energy landscape by making Russian gas giant Gazprom cut its prices 20% after Lithuania announced that it was building an LNG import terminal.
When people react best
“There are other ways beyond energy that Europe and the US can work together,” Sefcovic told his Atlantic Council audience. “A stronger Europe will be the kind of world actor who respects contracts and the rule of law. We’ve found that people react best when you present them with concrete projects that make economic sense and diversify supplies.”
Sefcovic said an EC investigation showed that Gazprom still could play a role in making deliveries more reliable. Noting that he was scheduled to meet with Russian officials the next day, he said he hopes to make real progress by the end of this summer.
