ABSTRACT
Natural gas is a major energy resource for the European Union, currently accounting for about one quarter of its primary energy consumption. Furthermore, this share is likely to stay approximately the same during the next 20 years (European Commission, 2010). However, the EU's own gas production is declining, even when gas from EEA-member Norway is included. As a result, the gap between supply and demand for natural gas may grow, bringing greater dependence on imported energy. Indeed, the EU is already rather heavily dependent on Russian energy: as the holder of the world's largest gas reserves, Russia currently accounts for slightly more than one-third of the EU's gas and oil imports, and more than 30 per cent of its coal imports (Eurostat, 2011).
