The future of the natural gas sector is guaranteed in any viable European Union ...

The future of the natural gas sector is guaranteed in any viable European Union (EU) energy mix, the European Commission has said in a major policy paper, writes Keith Nuthall. In its Energy Road Map 2050, Brussels argues that gas is the relatively clean fuel that will buy the EU time to adopt new energy technologies. ‘Gas will be critical for the transformation of the energy system,’ said a Commission communiqué on the plan, adding: ‘Substitution of coal (and oil) with gas in the short to medium term could help to reduce emissions with existing technologies until at least 2030 or 2035.’ Furthermore, gas would maintain a prominent role in sectors such as power generation over a longer period, possibly generating more power than at present in 2050 - up to 800 TWh. In other EU oil and gas news: *EU foreign ministers were expected to agree an oil embargo against Iran on 23 January, as Petroleum Review went to press, which could be phased in to protect against supply shortages to Greece, Italy and Spain who rely on Iranian oil. EU officials were working over Christmas to secure alternative oil import sources. *Some €6.1bn in funds has been earmarked for research projects developing secure, clean and efficient energy systems under the new proposed €80bn EU research programme called Horizon 2020 - which will run from 2014 to 2020. *The European Investment Bank (EIB) is lending €135mn to Polskie LNG to help finance the construction and operation of the first Polish LNG terminal in Swinoujscie on the Baltic coast. Meanwhile, it has lent €240mn to IREN to complete an offshore regasification plant near Livorno, Italy, involving a floating terminal for importing, storing and regasifying LNG, linked by a pipeline to the mainland. *Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has told Gazprom he wants construction of the South Stream gas pipeline spanning the Black Sea to be started in 2012, rather than the existing plan to begin in 2013. The announcement came after Russia said it had struck a deal with Turkey over routing the pipeline through Turkish territorial waters. Russia has also been pressuring Ukraine for better access to its pipeline network, warning South Stream would be a cheaper option for sending Russian gas to Europe. *Azerbaijan has delayed until March an auction over which consortia building pipelines to Europe can secure rights to its Caspian Sea natural gas. *The European Bank for Reconstruction & Investment (EBRD) has signed an agreement under which it will invest up to €50mn in Poland-based Petrolinvest to develop highly prospective oil licences in Kazakhstan with partners including Total of France. *The European Commission has cleared the acquisition of LNG transport company Danish Maersk LNG by Teekay LNG Partners (of the Marshall Islands) and Japan’s Marubeni Corporation. *Two new EU-funded research projects have been launched that will probe how best to measure greenhouse gases. The €1.9mn AMITRAN project will use information and communication technologies and intelligent transport systems to measure carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The €8mn INGOS project aims to provide accurate measurements of non-CO2 emissions from towers, peaks, masts and other data collection points. *The government of (Greek) Cyprus says significant gas reserves have been discovered in its territorial waters within the Mediterranean Sea that could amount to 8tn cf. Meanwhile, Norway says exploration has revealed reserves of between 200mn and 300mn barrels of oil in the Barents Sea, the second discovery in the region. *The Energy Charter Conference has a new Secretary General - Slovakia’s Urban Rusnak. The organisation promotes energy cooperation across Europe.