Europe and Russia should cooperate in the energy field because one without the other will be weaker in this market, said Christoph Frei, Secretary General of the World Energy Council (WEC), quoted by Bursa.
“We live in unprecedented times, dramatic for the European energy sector, in the context of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. Europe must urgently find a balance between three objectives, namely energy security and diversification of resources, environmental requirements and energy prices support for all consumers. Europe is still far from finding solutions to establish this balance. But Russia and Europe can not do without each other in the energy field.”
Forget the illusion that Europe will ever have cheap energy!
The WEC official considers it normal for Russia to diversify its gas markets and states that despite the fact that it concluded an important agreement for the delivery of gas to China, it will not abandon Europe:
“All customers are important to Russia. As we seek alternative sources to reduce our dependence on Russia, the Russian Federation is looking for other markets. But that does not mean that the Russians will waive the European market where they developed such an important infrastructure. ”
Frei said that the wisest thing Europe can do it is to reach an agreement with Russia to coexist harmoniously in the energy market.
“Forget the illusion that Europe will ever have cheap energy when it has such a high dependence on imported resources. Europe must understand this and try to diversify its resources, supply routes, and to invest in technology and research for the energy to be more accessible to consumers. Europe has the highest energy prices in the world and must find a balance between the interests of having a clean environment and a competitive economy. Sure, we can try to replicate the success of the U.S. oil and gas shale gas and oil. There are European countries that seem to have resources, but they must be searched, carefully studied and proved. It’s a process that takes a lot of time.”