Tensions with Russia is pushing Europe to start turning towards diversifying its energy sources and looking for new suppliers. That is the reason of the trip, starting today, to Algeria and Morocco, of the EU Climate & Energy CommissionerMiguel Arias Cañete. In Algiers today, he takes part in thelaunch of the EU-Algeria “high level energy dialogue”.
Algeria is already an important oil and gas provider for many EU, mostly Mediterranean, countries.Spanish oil company Repsol has thus recently drilled for gas in southeasternAlgeria, a region made infamous by a 2013 attack on a gas complex by al-Qaida-linked militants.
Repsol’s consortium includes Enel, GDF-Suez and Algerian state oil company Sonatrach.An al-Qaida splinter attacked the nearby Ain Amenas gas plant in January 2013, holding hundreds hostage before they were overwhelmed by Algerian forces, resulting in the death of 40 plant workers, mostly foreigners.
The plant, which once processed more than 11.5 % ofAlgeria’sgas, only resumed full operation in September 2014. Despite new security procedures, many foreign workers have yet to return.
Nearly all ofAlgeria’sincome comes from its rich oil and gas reserves.
Last June,Italian oil and gas group Eni has won three permits from the same Algeria’s state-owned energy group Sonatrach to prospect work in the south of the country.
Algeria used to be Italy’s biggest gas supplier but, as the North African country earmarks increasing amounts of production for domestic use and ships more gas to more remunerative Asian markets, volumes have declined.
In 2013 Italy imported 40 % of its gas needs from Russia, 18 % from Algeria and 8 % from Libya.
Rome is now placing increasing importance on completing the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) that will bring Azeri gas to Italy in 2019. The Russian-projectedSouth Stream pipeline, that should have brought Russian gas into Europe while bypassing Ukraine has been abandoned because of political tensions between EU and Moscow.
But the EU, keen to lessen its dependence on Russia for energy supplies, also expects to start receiving natural gas from Turkmenistan by 2019.
Turkmenistan, a Central Asian nation with the world’s fourth-largest reserves of natural gas, is keen to diversify exports of the fuel away from Russia which will cut its imports to 4 billion cubic meters this year from 11 bcm in 2014.
http://www.neurope.eu/article/keen-to-depend-less-on-russia-eu-courts-algeria-morocco/