Energy-2002 Conference: Europe Needs Russian Gas

The dependence of EU countries on imported energy resources will rise considerably in the next few years, according to Vladimir Khramoff, the purchasing manager of Gasum Oy. Khramoff was speaking today at the international Energy-2002 conference in Finland. Gasum Oy has a virtual monopoly on purchasing, transporting and selling natural gas wholesale on the Finnish market.

According to Vladimir Khramoff, Europe's own fossil fuel reserves are running out quickly and their extraction is becoming uneconomic. He also noted that if current growth rates in energy consumption continue, natural gas will account for 60-70% of Europe's energy supply by 2020. In 2000, 41% of the EU's energy came from oil, 22% from natural gas and 16% from coal. Nuclear energy accounted for 15% and renewable resources made up 6%.

In his speech to the congress Khramoff stressed Finland's particularly convenient geographical position with regard to current and future transportation of natural gas. He mentioned the Shtokmanovsky gas field - one of the world's largest - in northern Russia, and gas fields in Norway and Siberia. 'We have been receiving gas - first from the Soviet Union, and then from Russia - for over 30 years,' said Khramoff. 'Supplies have always been stable and reliable, so it makes sense to continue counting on them in the future.'