IEA worried about Russian natural gas

[lovuian]

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=463964b75ab6a2ea

The International Energy Agency says Russia won't be able to meet Western demand for natural gas unless it hikes investment and reforms its economy.

Claude Mandil, head of the International Energy Agency, the energy watchdog for the world's leading industrialized nations, said Russia needs a politically independent energy regulator to control the sector, the BBC reported Tuesday.

The problem is both structural and cultural.

The Kremlin cut natural gas supplies to the Ukraine in January, which had a domino effect on supplies to Western Europe forcing a near quadrupling of the price. Such actions reflect a non-capitalistic culture that impedes investment, the report said.
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Energy can we say has everybody worried!!!

[crizzo5137]

1. *grrrr*

[cliss]

2. As if Russia would do that.....now.

Maybe he should call Dick Cheney and see what he thinks.

I'd say Europe had better make hay this summer while it's still warm, and figure out some other energy alternatives. *

*In the meantime, Hugo Chavez has an order to buy $2 billion dollars worth of oil through the end of 2006. This will result in reduced oil going to Europe which is going to be desperate this winter.

Hint to Europeans = you better be friendly to Iran, since that's where most of your oil comes from. (maybe that's why Chavez did it).

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. Europe uses about 15.6 million barrels of oil per day

http://omrpublic.iea.org/demand/demov_eu.pdf

which is about $1.17 billion per day. $2 billion worth between now and the end of 2006 isn't going to have that much of an effect.

In 2004, just 7% of the EU-15 crude oil imports came from Iran (EU energy figures - 92 page PDF), compared with 30% from the former Soviet Union. The gas imports are even higher from Russia. Russia really is the main supplier to Europe.