BRUSSELS: The EU’s energy ministers are to meet Thursday to discuss energy security ahead of the winter heating season as wars in Iran, Ukraine and Yemen push oil and natural gas prices climbing. Fighting has devastated refineries in the Middle East and Russia, and disrupted oil and gas flows through key shipping channels in the Black Sea, the Red Sea, and the Strait of Hormuz.
We are in a very serious situation now. “We don’t look like we have a security of supply issue but I would caution against ignoring that,” EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen told reporters on Wednesday. He said cost was an equally pressing issue, noting that supply was of little help to individuals and businesses that could not afford it.
On Wednesday, the Commission started negotiations with European refineries on means of increasing production, including a possible relaxation of some technical criteria. Under US pressure, Western powers also agreed this month to release more than 400 million barrels of emergency oil inventories. faster
EU countries will also examine a Commission plan to slash electricity rates through tax and grid charge reforms, such as taxing electricity at a lower rate than natural gas. The EU is approaching the winter heating season with supplies at barely 75 percent of available storage compared with 83 percent last year.
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