The European Steel Association (EUROFER) has stated that the growing uncertainties in Ukraine show once again the strong correlation between security of supply and increasing energy prices in Europe. Russian state gas monopoly Gazprom supplied the European Union and Turkey in 2013 with a record 162 billion cubic meters of gas, of which 86 billion cubic meters was supplied through Ukraine, as EUROFER indicated in its release.
According to EUROFER, Gazprom has issued a warning that it could stop shipping gas to Ukraine over unpaid bills, while Central Europeans fear they could be under threat again due to an escalation of tensions between Russia and the West over Russia's seizure of Crimea. EUROFER also remarked that in media reports analysts have indicated that US natural gas will not reach European markets before 2016 and thus cannot provide an alternative in the current Ukrainian crisis.
"Energy extraction is always environmentally challenging and we do not underestimate the concerns raised in shale gas development in Europe which has a population density and regulatory infrastructure very different from that of the US. Nevertheless, given the absolute necessity for Europe to diversify its sources of supply of gas and to find solutions to the huge energy price differential with its main competitors, we see no alternative but to proceed as rapidly as possible with shale gas exploitation as part of the energy mix in Europe, while retaining all the precautions necessary in pursuing this approach," said EUROFER director general Gordon Moffat.