Quote Originally Posted by Ronin View Post
Just the other day on Portuguese news radio the idea was brought up that Portugal should team up with Spain and turn the Iberian Peninsula into an entry point of gas into the european continent.....just have it brought liquified in ships to our ports and distribute from here.
This sounds good. We all see the urgent need for Europe to reduce its dependency on Russian supply. Russian Gazprom cut off Ukraine in the middle of winter for the second time in three years over the annual contract dispute. It is clear that the European continent remains too vulnerable, also considering that it receives a fifth of its gas from pipelines crossing Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine should reach a long-term agreement in order to end the regular rows over payments. Commercial disputes should not be allowed to affect Europe's gas supplies, but I believe that payments are only part of the problem.

Russia has had three years to come up with an arrangement with Ukraine and of course they could have at any time in the summer not supplied the gas. Every year, they choose Jan. 1 to sharpen up the issue. This tells us that politics are at the basis of the Russian gas supply crisis. Every year, Putin sees how far the European Union lets him play his policy out regarding Ukraine ... And every year, Europeans are reinforced in their desire to diversify away from their increasing dependency on Russian gas. There is no doubt that Russia sees its position as the world's largest gas exporter as a powerful political tool.