EU gas supplies safe this winter: energy experts

(BRUSSELS) - European Union energy experts said Thursday that the EU's natural gas supplies were assured for this winter, following a deal between Belarus and Russia that averted a gas price war.

"In the context of a mild winter and considering the current situation of storage and gas flows, the measures taken by (EU) member states were considered appropriate to ensure security of supply," the Gas Coordination Group said.

Belarus ambassador Vladimir Senko gave the group, meeting in Brussels and which supervises the security of EU natural gas supplies, a "factual presentation" of the deal with Russia, a European Commission spokesman said.

Under terms of an accord struck late on December 31 with Russian energy monopoly Gazprom, Belarus agreed to pay 100 dollars per 1,000 cubic metres of gas from Russia, more than double the previous price of 45 dollars.

Minsk also agreed to sell 50 percent of state pipeline operator Beltransgaz.

Russia had threatened to cut its supplies to Belarus on January 1 unless it agreed to a new supply contract with higher prices. Minsk had threatened to disrupt Russian gas exports to western Europe that pass through its territory.

The EU is heavily dependent on Russian energy.

Russia supplied 24 percent of the EU's total gas needs in 2005, according to data from European gas federation Eurogas, representing 40 percent of all gas imports to the bloc.

Of that, about 20 percent transits through Belarus -- mainly to Germany, Lithuania and Poland -- and some 80 percent through Ukraine, meaning that about five percent of Europe's gas could have been hit.

"The threats made to security of supply during the recent Russian-Belarus gas dispute clearly emphasised the need for strong cooperation between member states," the gas experts said in a statement.

The meeting was called on December 28 in response to the price standoff.

Further details - European Commission