A senior executive at Russian state-controlled gas giant Gazprom has warned that the opening of the EU energy market to competition and political problems with Poland were forcing the company to look increasingly towards markets in Asia, the AFX News reports.

Stanislav Tsygankov, director of international business at Gazprom, sharply criticised ‘uncertainty’ created by EU policies which limited the company’s outlook on investment in supply for the 25-nation bloc.

The European Union markets for distribution of gas and electricity become fully open to competition from July 1 next year.

‘Liberalisation itself creates uncertainty for the producer countries and this could cause a supplier shortfall for the next decade,’ he told a UN meeting on sustainable energy supply.

‘Given the fact that in the EU such decisions have been taken, and that things are looking difficult for us and that there’s more uncertainty, we’ve been looking towards the east,’ Tsygankov said.

The Gazprom executive highlighted an agreement to start deliveries of 30 billion cubic metres of gas annually to China in 2011, and discussions with South Korea on deliveries from 2010.

‘We have a truly global market today and Europe is facing increasing competition from emerging demand centres such as southeast Asia and they need to compete for energy, not only Russian energy,’ Tsygankov said, speaking through an interpreter.

‘Europe’s ability to meet its energy needs depends on itself. Europe needs to settle these problems, it is in its interest,’ he told the meeting of the UN Economic Commission for Europe’s Committee on Sustainable Energy.

Russia’s hard-nosed approach to its vast energy reserves has fuelled concern in European capitals, especially after Moscow halted gas deliveries to Ukraine at the beginning of the year in a dispute over prices.

The European Union relies on Russia for more than 40 percent of its gas imports and over 30 percent of its oil imports, according to figures from the European Commission.

Tsygankov said existing commitments would be honoured and Gazprom had shown its readiness to engage in EU supplies with recent deals signed with Germany’s EON and Italian energy company ENI.

However, he also delivered a warning about the Polish veto within the EU over discussions on natural gas supplies and prices, and the controversy over the ‘Nord Stream’ pipeline from Russia to western Europ through the Baltic.

‘The Polish approach has set a very worrisome precedent for EU external relations and we believe the situation will only get more difficult with the EU today,’ Tsygankov said.

Popularity: 1% [?]