Comments on: Ramblings on Security of Supply and Strategic Storage http://www.renewableenergyjobs.com/greenleader/energy-security/ramblings-on-security-of-supply-and-strategic-storage/ The issues that matter Thu, 29 Jul 2010 20:55:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7.1 hourly 1 By: Richard Harper http://www.renewableenergyjobs.com/greenleader/energy-security/ramblings-on-security-of-supply-and-strategic-storage/comment-page-1/#comment-175 Richard Harper Fri, 21 Aug 2009 11:21:42 +0000 http://www.renewableenergyjobs.com/greenleader/?p=575#comment-175 Jennifer, I believe the Russia Ukraine spat shoud be seen in the context of a normal commercial dispute over price and payment with an added political twist. Whether or not that is a good indicator of the reliability of Russian supplies in the long-term is not clear. However it has damaged the perception of them as a reliable supplier. You make a good point about the transit infrastructure it does need investment but I beleive new investment is also required in Russia not just the Ukraine. Ultimately what investment is needed to maintain Russian production at current levels? On strategic storage, this is always driven by politicians. I think open competitive markets mitigate the need for such storage but won't provide it, the risk and cost benefit analysis is very difficult to carry out. While undoubtedly there will be competition between CCS projects and gas storage projects I can't imagine that there are insufficeint potential holes in the ground at least adjacent to the North Sea. Other countries may have fewer storage opportunities. Richard Jennifer, I believe the Russia Ukraine spat shoud be seen in the context of a normal commercial dispute over price and payment with an added political twist. Whether or not that is a good indicator of the reliability of Russian supplies in the long-term is not clear. However it has damaged the perception of them as a reliable supplier.

You make a good point about the transit infrastructure it does need investment but I beleive new investment is also required in Russia not just the Ukraine. Ultimately what investment is needed to maintain Russian production at current levels?

On strategic storage, this is always driven by politicians. I think open competitive markets mitigate the need for such storage but won’t provide it, the risk and cost benefit analysis is very difficult to carry out.

While undoubtedly there will be competition between CCS projects and gas storage projects I can’t imagine that there are insufficeint potential holes in the ground at least adjacent to the North Sea. Other countries may have fewer storage opportunities.

Richard

]]> By: Jennifer Pierotti http://www.renewableenergyjobs.com/greenleader/energy-security/ramblings-on-security-of-supply-and-strategic-storage/comment-page-1/#comment-174 Jennifer Pierotti Fri, 21 Aug 2009 09:56:22 +0000 http://www.renewableenergyjobs.com/greenleader/?p=575#comment-174 Bonjour tout le monde! Thank you for your insight on Russia-Ukraine and the problems of gas storage. I have a few comments, so please excuse any errors in English. With regard to (1), it is difficult to discern whether Russia is an unreliable supplier or not. It seems to me that its relations with all the former Soviet republics are politically very sensitive, not just its relations with Ukraine. Europe is stuck in the middle. With regard to (2), it is not so much a question of "who" turned off the gas, but the reason why it was turned off which I think is important to understand. Ukraine has tremendous financial difficulties and its gas pipeline infrastructure needs to be rehabilitated. If the country has the necessary financial means to progress, then I don't foresee any future transit problems. Regarding (3), I think that the various Russia-Ukraine gas disputes have proved to be an important wake-up call for Europe. But I think that we are too obsessed with security of supply and need to take into consideration the problem of security of demand for countries such as Russia. Otherwise, our energy relations will always remain one-sided. As for your comments on strategic gas storage, they are very interesting. I do think we need strategic gas storage. But I think there is a big problem here as it faces severe competition from CCS and financiers are currently split between the two. The IEA (in Paris) could play an important role here in lobbying politicians. Thank you for reading me. Jennifer Pierotti (France) Bonjour tout le monde!
Thank you for your insight on Russia-Ukraine and the problems of gas storage. I have a few comments, so please excuse any errors in English.
With regard to (1), it is difficult to discern whether Russia is an unreliable supplier or not. It seems to me that its relations with all the former Soviet republics are politically very sensitive, not just its relations with Ukraine. Europe is stuck in the middle.
With regard to (2), it is not so much a question of “who” turned off the gas, but the reason why it was turned off which I think is important to understand. Ukraine has tremendous financial difficulties and its gas pipeline infrastructure needs to be rehabilitated. If the country has the necessary financial means to progress, then I don’t foresee any future transit problems.
Regarding (3), I think that the various Russia-Ukraine gas disputes have proved to be an important wake-up call for Europe. But I think that we are too obsessed with security of supply and need to take into consideration the problem of security of demand for countries such as Russia. Otherwise, our energy relations will always remain one-sided.
As for your comments on strategic gas storage, they are very interesting. I do think we need strategic gas storage. But I think there is a big problem here as it faces severe competition from CCS and financiers are currently split between the two. The IEA (in Paris) could play an important role here in lobbying politicians.
Thank you for reading me.
Jennifer Pierotti (France)

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