UPDATED 1 Sept: The EI library in London is temporarily closed to the public, as a precautionary measure in light of the ongoing COVID-19 situation. The Knowledge Service will still be answering email queries via email , or via live chats during working hours (09:15-17:00 GMT). Our e-library is always open for members here: eLibrary , for full-text access to over 200 e-books and millions of articles. Thank you for your patience.
New Energy World
New Energy World embraces the whole energy industry as it connects and converges to address the decarbonisation challenge. It covers progress being made across the industry, from the dynamics under way to reduce emissions in oil and gas, through improvements to the efficiency of energy conversion and use, to cutting-edge initiatives in renewable and low carbon technologies.
Pipeline politics: expiry of Russia-Ukraine gas transit deal exposes Europe’s energy security
15/1/2025
8 min read
Feature
Given the termination of the last controversial remnants of the gas transit deal between Russia and Ukraine, the eyes of EU energy czars are on the present, medium and long-term availability of global LNG. Will there be enough gas to get the EU through the rest of the winter and to store for the next one? asks Selwyn Parker.
As of 1 January 2025, the flow of Russian gas through Ukraine’s pipeline finally came to a halt, marking the end of a five-year transit deal that had previously played a vital role in Europe’s energy supply, prior to the Russian invasion.
Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko applauded the end of the gas transit agreement as a ‘historic event’, predicting financial losses for Russia with the loss of important markets, despite the EU significantly reducing imports of Russian gas following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Before the outbreak of the war, Europe imported about 40bn m3/y of Russian gas.
When asked whether the gas deal termination would cause ‘any emergency’ in Slovakia, European Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisen Itkonen said at a press briefing in Brussels, earlier this month, that the EU Gas Coordination Group concluded ‘there are no security supplies issues or concerns for the European Union following the end of the transit agreement’. Indeed, she claimed that the EC has been ‘working intensively for over a year with member states and with Ukraine as well to prepare in advance for this scenario’. In the scramble for energy security over the next two or three years, there’s competition for new contracts and, failing that, for spot volumes as member nations seek to protect themselves in what is known as the ‘heating season’.