The price of European gas dependence

Column of the Executive Director of the Association, Artem Petrenko, for the edition "Economic Truth".

How did the European dependence on russian gas originate and what are the biggest consumers counting on now?

Until the 1970s, Europe was fully self-sufficient in gas from its production. The development of industry and the growing volume output increased the demand for gas every year.
And if at the beginning of the 60s, European countries consumed a little less than 40 bcm per year, ten years later this figure has almost tripled to 110 bcm.

Gas fields were already quite exhausted, and the sea shelf remained promising for development, but on the other side, such production was capital-intensive and long-term.

Europe required quick and cheap resources, which forced the governments to look for an alternative. Meanwhile, Western Siberia experienced colossal oil and gas deposits discoveries, those, on which, as a result, Europe has been dependent for more than half a century.

The first European contract for the supply of natural gas from the USSR was concluded with Austria in 1968.

Read more (in Ukrainian) - https://www.epravda.com.ua/columns/2022/05/16/687099/