EU must strengthen links with Russia, says UK energy minister

Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks recently stressed the importance of strengthening the EU’s relationship with Russia in order to secure reliable energy supplies.

He told European business leaders in Moscow: "The EU is working hard to liberalise its energy markets but it has some way to go. To achieve well functioning internal energy markets the EU also needs to secure its energy supplies internationally. It needs to do this through bilateral relationships with strategic energy partners such as Russia and through global energy markets.”

He added that the interruption to oil supplies caused by hurricane Katrina had highlighted just how interdependent both producing and consuming countries are alike.

"For Europe as a whole, I believe the creation of a single European gas and electricity market will make cross border trading of electricity and gas within the EU simpler and greatly expand the potential market for Russian natural gas,” Wicks commented. "UK companies in particular are the biggest investors in Russia's oil and gas sector and UK business could bring expertise to Russian projects such as the Shtockman project in the Barents Sea."