EU moving toward joint purchase of natural gas

BRUSSELS — The European Union is moving toward the joint purchase of natural gas and ensuring its storage facilities are nearly full to try to avoid another crisis tied to its dependency on Russian energy, officials said Tuesday.

The 27-nation bloc acknowledges it has been far too reliant on Russia for natural gas and oil and has been struggling to find the right mix of sanctions to punish the Kremlin for invading Ukraine while still requiring Russian fossil fuels.

Low levels of gas storage “brought us to big difficulties in January where we have been kind of scrambling for additional gas for European consumption,” EU Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said.

With energy prices high and supplies low, the EU is looking at the COVID-19 pandemic as a blueprint. The member states joined up to buy vaccines in huge quantities for an equitable distribution.

The draft conclusions of the summit include that “with a view to next winter, Member States and the Commission will urgently ... work together on the joint purchase of gas, LNG and hydrogen.” The details still need to be worked out.

And they will have enough clout to get a good deal, Sefcovic said.

“Europe should definitely use better its enormous weight, the scale of the European economy if it comes to the negotiating of energy prices,” he said.

EU leaders agreed in principle at a March 11 summit to phase out dependency on Russian gas, oil and coal imports by 2027.

The EU imports 90% of the natural gas used to generate electricity, heat homes and supply industry, with Russia supplying almost 40% of EU gas and a quarter of its oil.