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Summary: www.electricitypolicy.org.uk
EPRGWORKINGPAPER
Abstract
A Market Between us: Reducing the Political Cost
of Europe's Dependence on Russian Gas
EPRG Working Paper 0916
Pierre Noël
The geopolitical implications of Europe's reliance on Russian gas are a
prominent source of concerns among European (and even American)
policy makers. We analyse the dynamics of the European Union's gas
supply since 1970 and find that while imports have been growing
consistently, dependence on Russia has gone down considerably. The
trend towards diversification of supply sharply accelerated after 1990.
But gas supply diversity is confined to Western Europe; Eastern
Europe's small gas markets are highly dependent on Russian gas. We
conclude that the emergence of a single European gas market, where
national markets would be integrated through pan-European competitive
trading, would significantly reduce the energy security and foreign policy
implications of the EU-Russia gas relationship.
Keywords European Union, Natural Gas, Russia, Foreign Policy, Market
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