EU Says Existing Gas Pipelines From Russia More Than Enough

LUXEMBOURG—Existing gas pipelines from Russia already more than meet the European Union's existing and future needs, the European Commission said Friday, a day after OAO Gazprom and several Western energy companies said they would double the capacity of a pipeline to Germany.

The tentative agreement with Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Germany's E. ON AG and Austria's OMV AG would allow Gazprom to ship an extra 55 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe every year through the Nord Stream pipeline via the Baltic Sea and forms another attempt by Moscow to avoid Ukraine as a transit route. The EU currently imports about one third of its gas from Russia, with almost half of that coming through Ukraine.

Moscow has been working to reduce its dependence on Ukraine as a transit country, arguing that Kiev, with which it is locked in a bloody conflict in eastern Ukraine, has proved to be an unreliable partner.

But the commission, the EU's executive, said that no new pipelines from Russia were needed, since existing routes are already running at just 57% capacity. On top of that, measures to increase energy efficiency and reduce the use of fossil fuels are expected to cut the bloc's gas needs over the coming decade.

"Current transport routes from Russia to the EU, including through Ukraine, already well exceed the EU's needs for existing and likely future supplies of pipeline gas from Russia to the EU," the commission said.

The commission also came out in support for Ukraine as a transit country. "Ukraine has been a major reliable transit country and provides an economic route for supplies to Europe," it said.

Rather than counting on new transit projects, the EU is currently working on building new gas interconnectors that will ensure countries have more than one supply route.

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