Should the EU boost domestic natural gas production in response to the price crisis of imported fossil fuels caused by the war in the Middle East? This was the controversial issue discussed over lunch by the EU27 energy ministers at their informal EU Council meeting in Nicosia on Wednesday 13 May.
This subject was presented by the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU (see EUROPE 13867/6), as Cyprus, along with Romania, has the largest commercially exploitable gas reserves in the EU; in fact, both countries have already planned to increase their domestic offshore production in the Black Sea.
“There is no doubt that we will continue to need fossil fuels. There is no doubt that natural gas is preferable to everything else, that it is cleaner (...) The general idea at the moment is to try to exploit our own natural resources as much as possible”, the Cypriot Minister for Energy Michael Damianos told the press, pointing to the Romanian example.
Romania plans to become the EU’s leading gas producer with its ‘Neptun Deep’ project in the Black Sea, scheduled to come on stream in 2027 - despite the looming threat of possible Russian attacks.
“Our environmental standards are higher than those of many countries from which we import natural gas”, added Cristian Bușoi, Romania’s Secretary of State at the Ministry of Energy. “Producing our own gas within the EU, whether onshore or offshore, is a matter of security”, stressed Michael Damianos.
Along the same lines, Greece - which last April launched its first exploratory gas drilling campaign in the Mediterranean Sea for almost four decades. “I think it is important for Europe to have a balanced energy mix, without excluding any source, in order to be able to guarantee its energy security, which is currently a crucial issue”, said the Greek Minister for the Environment and Energy, Stavros Papastavrou.
The three countries stressed the need to become independent of Russian gas (see EUROPE 13803/1), a target set by the EU since the previous energy crisis, in 2022. In this respect, a study published on Wednesday by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) showed that Russian LNG imports rose by 16% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026, reaching their highest level since 2022 (6.9 billion cubic metres). The growing dependence on imported gas from the United States is also a new cause for concern (see EUROPE 13855/6).
However, the push for European gas production orchestrated by the Cyprus Presidency of the EU Council was met with resistance at the ministerial table. “Some would like to relaunch investment in new fossil fuel infrastructures. France reaffirms its opposition. The answer to the crisis is electrification, more electricity and not more gas and oil... Diversifying our supplies, in the short term, may be a step in the right direction, but it must under no circumstances slow down our energy transition”, said the French Minister for Energy, Maud Bregeon, on the eve of the meeting.
On Wednesday morning, Maud Bregeon held bilateral talks with her Spanish counterpart in charge of the Energy Transition, Sara Aagesen, who also “defended the importance for the whole of Europe to commit to a roadmap towards the gradual elimination of fossil fuels”.
The European Commissioner for Energy, Dan Jørgensen, also expressed his reticence: “Since the beginning of the Middle East conflict, we have paid €35 billion more for our energy than we usually do. (...) So, in reality, this is not an energy crisis. It’s a fossil fuel crisis. This leaves only one logical conclusion. We need to accelerate and redouble our efforts to move away from fossil fuels (...)”, the Danish Social Democrat said.
To see the IEEFA study: https://aeur.eu/f/lwd (Original version in French by Clément Solal)