By Andrea Thomas
BERLIN--European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said
Thursday he is convinced Russia will continue to deliver gas to
Europe despite recent economic sanctions imposed against Moscow,
adding that the European Union is well prepared to deal with any
supply cuts.
"The Russians themselves are interest in the delivery. They need
the revenues for their state budget every day. Gazprom depends on
selling gas to Europe. The Russians have invested billions in gas
pipelines," Mr. Oettinger said on German television. "I believe
that the dependency is mutual and that the daily gas contracts will
be respected."
But he also said that Europe would be to handle the situation
even if Russia were to interrupt deliveries. "We have filled our
gas tanks well and can live without any imports for many days," Mr.
Oettinger said. "We have prepared a thorough strategy on how to
survive in the energy market in the short term or the long term,
regardless of what Russia is doing."
Mr. Oettinger mentioned Norway and Algeria as possible
alternative for gas supply as well as imports of liquefied natural
gas by boat.
The comments come after the EU adopted economic sanctions
against Russia on Tuesday, including trade and investment
restrictions that hit Russia's banks, oil industry and military.
Russia's foreign ministry warned Wednesday that European sanctions
will lead to higher prices on the European energy market. Europe
gets about a third of its gas from Russia.
Write to Andrea Thomas at andrea.thomas@wsj.com
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