Europe and its gas suppliers: how can the security of EU supply be improved?

How much gas European Union members might require ten or twenty years from now is impossible to ascertain precisely. Indigenous supplies are certainly declining but demand for gas is also falling. It has dropped by 12.5% across the EU over the last decade according to the latest BP Statistical Review. What is not in doubt is that the EU will continue to depend on outside suppliers for much of its gas. Surging renewable supplies could push demand down further in the future but a global gas glut could allow European importers to sign longterm deals with suppliers from around the world. The EU’s dependence will, in the view of other observers, keep growing and be greater in 2030 than it is today. That means that the policy framework within which the EU’s gas policies, in particular its import policies, are framed is of interest, not just to its members but to current and future outside suppliers of gas.