The energy supply challenges facing Europe

Mr. Choeib Boutamine

January 11, 2025

Europe is in the midst of a critical crisis, as the cold wave coincides with the disruption of gas supplies.

The quantity of gas exported from Russia to the EU currently represents only 15% of the needs of European countries: 8% reaches Europe through gas transit across Ukraine, and the rest comes from the TurkStream pipeline. Both pipelines combined export about 30 billion cubic meters annually to Europe.

 Slovakia used to consume about 3 billion cubic meters from the Russian pipeline, which accounted for two-thirds of its natural gas needs.

 EU countries are lacking steady gas supplies at reasonable prices, especially since both Ukrainian and Russian leaders ruled out the possibility of renewing the gas transit pact across Ukraine.

The cancellation of the pact will heavily affect Germany, as it uses natural gas in the petrochemical industry and agricultural fertilizers. Consequently, the German petrochemical company Covestro is undergoing negotiations with the Emirati oil company Adnoc to seal a deal as soon as possible.