Chapter Total: no need to fight with the EU's dependence on gas supplies from Russia
The CEO of French oil giant Total, Christophe de Margerie (Christophe de Margerie) in the interview to the Agency tried to convince Europe to stop thinking about getting rid of the dependence on gas from Russia, and instead focus on security of supply, as well as among them, bypassing Ukraine.
the head of several major oil and gas organizations, including BP and Royal Dutch Shell, above also expressed their support for a long-term partnership with Russia, despite Western punishment. According to Margerie, his unequivocal support of Russia against the background of the fall in Ukraine is explained by serious concern the repeated failure of gas supplies to the European Union in the winter.
" It is clear that this winter we will have to deal with the problem in the case that will be disruptions in gas supplies and winter will be cold. There are lots of solutions, which can help to bypass the Ukrainian issue, and among them, There are solutions offered by Russia, " said Margerie, citing the example of a gas pipeline " Northern stream ", built in 2011 bypassing Ukraine under the Baltic sea." Nord stream was created in order to protect gas supplies through Ukraine, and not to defend himself in gas supplies from Russia ", - noticed the head of the organization.
" Can we survive without Russian gas? The answer is no. Is there any reason to live without him?- I think - and I'm not talking from a position of protection of interests of the organization Total in Russia is also not, " he added.
explaining the proposal of the European Commission, according to which all EU countries would act for the Russian Federation as one partner, bypassing the need for gas supply by individual prices for each of the countries Margerie said: " shall there be a unified procurement authority? I don't think. Today, the Russian gas prices correspond to the prices on the international market. They even cut prices to keep customers."
Soon after the beginning of the Ukrainian fall EC has suspended work on the second Russian pipeline bypassing Ukraine - " South stream ", pointing to the violation of EU law. The construction started on 7 December 2012 in the area of Anapa. Commissioning of the first line is scheduled for the end of 2015. It is planned to build four strings longer than 930 kilometers each.
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