Europe Fears Dependence on Russia’s Natural Gas
By Doug Saunders
Toronto Globe and Mail
huntingtonnews.net
Excerpt:
Franco Bernabe, who recently finished a term as head of Italy's energy agency ENI, said that Europe needs to build many more shipping terminals for liquefied natural gas (LNG) to diversify its energy imports.
"Yes, the (terminals) are essential," he said. "In the next 10 years, the liquefied gas market will develop very much, with the emergence of new players: Qatar, Trinidad, Nigeria, Iran, Indonesia. It will be a much more dynamic sector than the one we know today."
Kemfert, in Berlin, said that a robust LNG import system would reduce not only dependence but also prices since Russia, the world's largest gas producer, has tapped out its most readily accessible reserves and now must draw on more remote, northern supplies.
"It will keep getting more expensive. And the shipping cost through the Baltic pipeline will make it much more expensive than LNG, even if it comes from across the Atlantic."
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