After more than a month of conflict in the Middle East, concerns over the security of energy supply in the EU and pressure on prices are intensifying, calling for a joint response, as suggested by the extraordinary informal meeting of European energy ministers held by video conference on Tuesday 31 March.
The Commissioner for Energy, Dan Jørgensen, did not beat around the bush. He warned at the end of the meeting that we should not expect a return to normal “in the near future”, but rather potentially prolonged disruption.
“Even if there was a peace tomorrow there would still be consequences because energy infrastructure in the region has been ruined”, he warned.
As well as blocking oil and gas imports through the Strait of Hormuz, attacks on the region’s energy infrastructure have intensified.
The European Commission has formally called on the Member States to “coordinate measures” to guarantee security of oil supply.
However, although it is not yet putting forward targeted emergency measures at EU level, it is not ruling out this possibility, as was suggested ahead of the European Summit on 19 March (see EUROPE 13832/1).
A “toolbox” of measures has been announced by the President of the Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, which could be inspired by certain decisions taken during the 2022 crisis, such as a (gas) price cap or a coordinated reduction in demand.
However, as Mr Jørgensen pointed out, the situation is different today. Whereas in 2022 there was a crisis in gas prices and dependence on one source of supply - Russia - the current situation is marked by dependence on international markets and “a more diverse range of products affected”.
“We can therefore learn from the 2022 experience, but we will also have to look beyond this past experience”, he commented.
Reducing demand. For the time being, the Commission has confined itself to promoting the reduction of oil demand, particularly in the transport sector, as suggested in the ten-point plan of the International Energy Agency (IEA) (see EUROPE 13833/9).
The EU is also contributing 20% of the coordinated release of 400 million barrels from strategic oil reserves, implemented by the IEA (see EUROPE 13826/1).
In addition, the Commission has urged Member States not to restrict the free movement of petroleum products or to take measures likely to increase fuel consumption.
The institution insisted as well on postponing all non-urgent maintenance operations at refineries and encouraged the development of biofuels as substitutes for fossil oil products, thereby easing tensions on the market.
The EU is particularly dependent on the Gulf region for diesel and aviation paraffin. It is also suffering from increased competition from Asian buyers of liquefied natural gas (LNG), who are the most dependent on LNG transiting through the Strait of Hormuz.
Last week, the Commission encouraged Member States to make use of the flexibility offered by the regulation on gas storage to replenish stocks before next winter (see EUROPE 13834/3). (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)