Intervention by Ambassador Vladimir Chizhov at the conference "Third Investment Energy Summit", organised by «The Economist»

RUSSIA-EU ENERGY COOPERATION

Energy cooperation between Russia and the EU may well be qualified as one of the most intensive and at the same time most contradictory areas of their interaction. Such situation can be explained, of course, by the sheer volumes of energy resources traded between Russia and EU Member States, their mutual interdependence in this sphere and by a traditional split that always exists between the interests of any buyer and seller. But this explanation seems to be only partially true. In my today’s intervention I will try to give the Russian vision of achievements in Russia-EU energy cooperation as well as of some of the problems that exist in this sphere.

Let me start with a little bit of statistics. Russia is one of the leading countries in the world energy sector, and its role in global energy markets cannot be overestimated. Each year 600 mln. tonnes of oil and 670 bln. cubic metres of natural gas are produced in Russia. A little bit more than 1/3 of the oil produced and about 30% of gas are exported. In 2011 Russia exported 219 mln. tonnes of crude oil for the sum of 172 bln. US dollars, and 190 bln. cubic metres of gas for a total sum of 64 bln. US dollars. Overall, energy resources represent 53.5% of Russian exports. The share of oil in total export equals to 39%, that of gas – to 14%.
Russian trade turnover with EU Member States in 2012 reached 306 bln. euros, or 410 bln. US dollars, roughly half of the total turnover that Russia has with the whole world. At the same time Russia, which accounts for almost 8% of the total EU foreign trade, is the third most important trade partner of the EU (after China and the US). Russia is one of the main suppliers of energy resources to EU countries. 30% of oil and gas, 25% of coal imported by the EU, are of Russian origin (annually Russia delivers to the EU market 150-160 mln. tonnes of oil and 110-120 bln. cubic metres of gas, 60 mln. tonnes of coal). EU imports from Russia also include oil products (80 mln. tonnes per year, 23% of the total EU import), nuclear materials and electricity.

The above figures show the intensity and importance of Russia-EU relations in the energy sphere for both Parties. In order to tackle issues of energy cooperation back in 2000 Russia and the EU launched a bilateral Energy Dialogue. By the way, it was originally proposed by the then President of the European Commission Romano Prodi, as a way to ensure energy security for the EU. The Energy Dialogue is co-Chaired by the Russian Minister of Energy and the European Commissioner for Energy who designated their representatives to lead practical work on promotion of the various aspects of the Dialogue, namely a Deputy Minister of Energy of Russia and Director-General for Energy of the European Commission. Four Thematic Groups have been created to discuss at expert level issues of practical interest: on energy scenarios, on electric energy, on nuclear energy and on energy efficiency and innovation. The Energy Dialogue also comprises the Advisory Gas Council. Sessions of the Permanent Partnership Council on energy issues are held at Ministerial level on an annual basis. Last March the Parties finalized important work on developing a Russia-EU Roadmap on Energy cooperation for the period until 2050. The Roadmap provides an analysis of scenarios and their impact on Russia-EU energy relations, looks into the consequences of these scenarios for the energy sector, examines long-term opportunities and risks of the overall energy supply and demand situation, investigates the potential for long-term cooperation in the field of energy.

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Source URL: https://russiaeu.ru/en/node/1211