North Africa and Europe: energy partnership

The European Union (EU) is heavily dependent on Russia to meet its vast and growing demand for oil and gas supplies. In the last several years, because of disagreements between Russia and Ukraine, natural gas supplies to Europe had been interrupted. This interruption has highlighted the EU's over-dependence on its large neighbour. Given Russia's massive hydrocarbon resources and geographical proximity, the EU-Russia interdependence is likely to endure for many years. Still, in order to reduce Brussels' energy vulnerability, the EU has sought to initiate and consolidate cooperation with major oil- and gas-producing regions. This paper examines the emerging energy partnership between the EU and North Africa (Algeria, Egypt and Libya). The growing cooperation between the two sides is likely to improve Europe's energy security. Copyright 2009 The Author. Journal compilation 2009 Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.