China News Service, July 19. According to Agence France-Presse, on the 18th local time, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, urged EU countries to immediately find ways to reduce demand for natural gas, because in Russia " Under the circumstance of "cutting supply", even if we try to find diversified natural gas sources, it will not be able to meet the needs of Europe in the cold winter.
According to reports, on the same day, European Commission President von der Leyen signed an energy agreement in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan.
Under the agreement, Azerbaijan's gas supply will double in the next few years.
However, Birol bluntly stated in an article published by the IEA, "Gas from non-Russian sources alone will never be enough, because these supplies simply cannot fill the huge gap created by Russia's cessation of supplies."
Birol said: “Even if gas from Norway and Azerbaijan reaches maximum supplies, even if deliveries from North Africa are close to last year’s levels, even if gas production within Europe continues to follow recent trends, even if the increase in imported LNG is as high as last year’s. Half a year of similar record levels, the problem remains."
The report also said that the EU has not imposed sanctions on Russian gas due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but it has sought to cut imports to reduce its dependence on Russian gas.
With the closure of Russia's main natural gas pipeline to Europe, Nord Stream-1, for maintenance, the outside world is increasingly concerned about the supply of natural gas to the EU.
Previously, the EU had "requested assistance" from Israel, Egypt and other countries, but due to its high dependence on Russian natural gas supply, it is difficult to find new gas sources or reduce consumption to make up for the supply and demand gap in the short term.