Security of Gas Supply in South Eastern Europe: Potential Contribution of Planned Pipelines, LNG and Storage: OIES paper: NG 52

Much of the debate on European gas security which followed the Russia-Ukraine crisis of January 2009, neglected the fact that consumers which lost their gas supply were limited to countries in south Eastern Europe. Anastasios Giamouridis and Spiros Paleoyannis have reviewed the security of supply situation in the gas markets of South Eastern Europe by examining the potential for pipeline interconnectors, LNG and gas storage in these countries. While multi-billion Euro pipelines bringing 10-30 Bcm/year of Caspian gas to and through the region, have tended to grab the headlines, smaller scale solutions such as interconnectors (with reverse flow), floating LNG regasification facilities and additional storages – which could be shared between a number of countries – could be a more immediate and affordable solution for countries struggling in the aftermath of recession and financial crisis. The markets of Albania, Bulgaria, Greece, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, UNMIK/Kosovo and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia may only account for a few percentage points of total European gas demand, but this is outweighed by the importance of ensuring that their supplies can be assured in the event of any future interruptions similar to the events of 2009