Seeking to address fears of another energy supply disruption in deep winter, the European Commission has said that EU states currently have emergency oil stocks to last 122 days, "a figure well above the mandatory 90 days".
 
The European Commission met the Oil Supply Group in Brussels on December 15 2009, a day after the EU’s Gas Co-ordination Group held talks with Russia gas giant Gazprom and Ukraine’s Naftogaz.
 
In the opening days of 2009, a number of European countries, especially Bulgaria, were hard-hit by a cutoff of natural gas because of a dispute between Russia and Ukraine.
 
Since then, EU authorities have been on a quest to be ready in the event of another cutoff this winter, a scenario that many observers believe cannot be completely ruled out.
 
The European Commission said that it had called the meeting with Oil Supply Group experts to review the emergency preparedness of member states with respect to oil and petroleum products at the start of the winter period.
 
"(EU) member states reported having sufficient stocks at their disposal to assure the uninterrupted operation of their refining and distribution systems, even in case of a lasting supply disruption," the European Commission said.
 
The Commission said that it had used the December 15 meeting to remind member states of the importance of respecting stockholding obligations and reporting deadlines stemming from European legislation on oil stocks.
 
"The Commission intends to continue enforcing the reporting discipline foreseen in the applicable legislation in order to ensure a constant clear picture on current stock levels."
 
The Commission said that it had discussed with member states the implementation of the new oil stocks legislation, adopted by the EU in September 2009 .
 
The new directive, which is to be transposed into member states' national laws by December 31 2012, will bring the EU system of oil stocks closer to current international practices and strengthen the EU's capacity to use stocks effectively so as to minimise negative effects on consumers if there is a cutoff.
 
At its December 14 meeting, the Gas Co-ordination Group, under the chairmanship of the Commission, discussed with Gazprom the gas supply and demand outlook and investment strategy of the company in both Russia and the EU.
 
The group also had talks with Naftogaz about the transit of Russian supplies via Ukraine to the EU and the outlook for winter 2009/2010 in Ukraine.
 
The Gas Co-ordination Group, comprising EU member states, national regulators and European organisations representing the gas industry and consumers, continued its assessment of the emergency preparedness of the EU and the Energy Community contracting parties for a potential supply disruption in winter 2009/2010.
 
"The Group focused in particular on measures to ensure gas supplies to protected customers in the countries in Central and South East Europe that were affected by the January gas crisis," the European Commission said.
 
The group assessed gas infrastructure development in the EU and the security of supply aspects to be addressed in the 10-year network development plan now being prepared.
 
"The group continued to examine various supply disruption scenarios at regional level to identify the best possible responses at (EU) and regional level," a media statement said.
 
The Gas Co-ordination Group is scheduled to meet again on January 12 2010.