What is the future of natural gas in Europe? by Michael Akerib,
Rusconsult Gas consumption has seen a major increase in its use
for the production of electricity in both Europe and the US as
it is a less polluting fuel than coal while having a higher
efficiency. The International Energy Agency forecasts an annual
increase in demand of 1.5% in the next ten to twenty years. This
increased use may, however, well put consuming countries, and
the European Union in particular, into a higher dependency ratio
- of up to 80% - with regards to its suppliers, since gas
extraction is geographically concentrated in a limited number of
countries some of which have dwindling resources or require
considerable investments to maintain their present production
levels, or both. Russia's estimate is that investments of the
order of 300 billion dollars will be required over the next 20
years to meet demand. In the case of Russia, large investments
to maintain an archaic pipeline system are also required. Should
these large investm