|
Oil and Gas Networks
Primary sources of energy in the
countries of the region are quite limited. Although many
countries produce low-quality lignite coal (eg, Bulgaria FRY,
fYR Macedonia and Romania), other sources are less common. Only
Croatia and Romania have limited production of oil and gas,
which is insufficient to meet the country's demand, and there
is hydroelectrical power generation in Albania,
Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Croatia. The only nuclear
power generation facilities are in Romania and Bulgaria.
As a result, the countries of
the region are highly dependent upon the import of primary
energy, particularly of oil and gas. Any increase in natural
gas demand, however, will depend on the rate of expansion and
interconnection of the natural gas system in the region. These
systems are not well developed and integrated in South East
Europe. For this reason, the full market potential for gas will
only be realized with the construction of new gas transport
pipelines, the development of gas distribution infrastructure
and greater integration of gas markets in the region.
According to the European Commission's
strategy paper for Transport and Energy
Infrastructure (29
pages, pdf, 3.9 MB), the
priorities for oil and gas are to strengthen and complete the
region's oil network to ensure supply to the region and transit
to neighboring regions and to continue the study of new supply
routes and pipelines contributing to the security of oil
supplies. Overall, the strategy paper stresses that decisions
relating to new oil and gas transportation routes should be
taken according to the following principles:
- Decisions relating to the
development of particular routes should be taken according
to purely commercial criteria by the commercial operators;
- In the medium to long-term, a
policy of multiple routes should be promoted; and,
- This entails that, in the
medium to long-term, competition between route options
should be encouraged.
The Energy Community
Treaty basically requires that SEE countries
undertake gas sector reforms through development of
regulatory frameworks and industry unbundling with a
view to increased gasification in each state and
establish an integrated regional energy market and
progressively ensure its integration into the European
Community's Internal Energy Market.
With respect to the regional natural gas market, the
participants commit themselves to establish common rules
for all market activities mainly for transmission,
distribution, supply, storage of natural gas and adopt
the rules relating to the organization and functioning
of the natural gas sector, access to the market, the
criteria and procedures applicable to the granting of
authorizations for activities and the operation of
systems as those laid down in
Directive 2003/55/EC, and will provide a timetable
for doing so.
The gas market in the region is relatively
underdeveloped considered as a whole, but this masks
wide difference between the Eastern Balkans through into
Turkey, and the Western Balkans through into Albania. In
the Eastern Balkans and Turkey, gas use is either mature
(Romania) or rapidly developing (Turkey and Bulgaria).
In the Western Balkans, gas supply to Albania, Bosnia
and Herzegovina, Croatia, FYROM, Montenegro, Serbia and
UNMIK is either underdeveloped or non-existent or has
fallen into disuse (Montenegro and UNMIK have no gas
infrastructure).
In the weighted average share of gas in primary energy
supply is very close to that of EU Members average.
However this average hides significant variances
throughout the region. Romania has the largest share in
the region. On the other hand, Albania, Bosnia &
Herzegovina and FYROM have the lowest share (excluding
Montenegro and UNMIK as no gas usage).
For further details, please
consult the Energy
Community Secretariat website. |
