Not a good idea: US Energy Secretary Sam Bodman slams gas cartel plans
US warns against gas cartel
Nothing positive will come out of proposed plans to create an Opec-style gas cartel of major producers, US Energy Secretary Sam Bodman told a conference in the Azeri capital today.
Such a cartel would hurt gas consumers in Europe, Bodman said, echoing fears aired by the EU last month.
"I see nothing positive coming out of a gas Opec for European consumers,” Reuters quoted Bodman as saying.
“Fortunately, natural gas prices seem to range dramatically from one country to another, and this tendency will continue."
The world’s largest gas producer, Russia, held talks with Iran and Qatar this week after they formed what Moscow called a "big gas troika" last month, which should become a permanent body holding regular meetings.
That sent a nervous tremor through the EU and the US, which have argued that the market should set gas prices.
Both have repeatedly warned that an Opec-style gas group could pose a serious danger to global energy security.
The three gas producing nations meet annually with other major producers Venezuela, Nigeria and Algeria at their gas forum, which they have said aims at increasing co-operation between producers.
"The US supports any new project which is in the interest of providing energy to Europe," Bodman said, adding that the Nabucco pipeline project could give a much-needed boost to global energy security.
But ambitious plans for Nabucco - a EU and US-backed project that would take non-Russian gas from the Caspian Sea to Europe, bypassing and reducing reliance on Russia -- have crumbled in recent months as suppliers turn their backs on the turbulent Caucasus as a transit region.
Two gas pipelines running north and south of the EU bloc, the Nord Stream and South Stream, will be part-owned and operated by Gazprom and will pump Russian gas. Western critics say they are aimed at Russian energy domination.
"From a technical point of view, the South Stream pipeline is very complicated and demands a lot of investments," said Boyden Gray, US Special Envoy for Eurasian Energy.
"But I feel that in order to realise the Caspian region's full potential, there needs to be a lot of projects here."