The Ukraine Conflict and its Impact on the European Gas Market

As winter approaches, many countries in Europe are concerned about the future delivery of natural gas supplies from Russia. Since Russian natural gas is in part transported through Ukraine, the ongoing conflict in that country continues to draw attention to Europe’s considerable energy dependence. The question remains whether Europe’s gas supplies will continue this winter as planned. Previous disputes in 2006 and 2009 threatened Europe’s long-term energy security. As its overall import dependence continues to increase, Europe’s policymakers are searching for ways to diversify energy supplies and guard against possible supply disruptions.

On October 14, the Energy Security Initiative (ESI) and Center on United States and Europe (CUSE) at Brookings held a discussion on the state of the European gas market. This event served as the release of a new ESI policy brief on the European gas market in times of turmoil and increasing import dependence. Two of the report’s co-authors – ESI Fellow Tim Boersma and Tatiana Mitrova, head of the Oil and Gas Department at the Energy Research Institute in the Russian Academy of Sciences – presented their findings. Following their presentation, Robin Dunnigan, acting deputy assistant secretary for energy diplomacy at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Energy Resources, provided additional comment. CUSE Senior Fellow Clifford Gaddy will moderated the discussion.

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