G20 Ministers Stream Competing EU Pipeline Projects, Fret Over Oil

Industrial nations strive for sustainable energy development

- Advertisement -

G20 energy ministers met in Istanbul on October 2, striving for sustainable development amidst low oil prices and climate change negotiations. European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy Miguel Arias Cañete represented the EU.

With an eye to increasing EU energy security, in addition and in the context of G20, Cañete met bilaterally with Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister Ali Rıza Alaboyun, a European Commission spokeswoman told New Europe on October 2. She added that they planned to discuss EU-Turkey energy cooperation, gas supply and transit, the Southern Gas Corridor, which includes the Trans-Anatolian Pipeline (TANAP) that will connect with the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP), Iran and COP21 climate talks which will take place in Paris in December.

Turkey, which currently holds the G20 chairmanship until November 30, invited Azerbaijan’s Energy Minister Natig Aliyev to the event. The Southern Gas Corridor will carry gas from Azerbaijan’s Shah Deniz field via Turkey to Europe.

For its part, Russia is pushing ahead with its Turkish Stream pipeline bypassing Ukraine.

Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak reportedly said on October 2 that Gazprom requires construction licences for at least two lines of the proposed Turkish Stream pipeline project. “One will be for Turkey and one for Europe,” Novak told reporters on the sidelines of the G20 meeting. The Kremlin said last month that discussions about Turkish Stream had been slowed due to Turkey’s November 1 parliamentary election. Russia wants to bring 63 billion cubic metres of gas a year to Turkey and southern Europe via Greece. But the European Commission has warned that the project must abide by EU’s Third Energy package.

The G20 meeting was also expected to focus on sustainable energy access, energy efficiency and renewable energy. G20 Energy Ministers were expected to adopt a toolkit of voluntary options for long-term, integrated and sustainable approach towards accelerated renewable energy deployment.

As G20 countries host 80% of existing renewable electricity capacity around the world and hold 75% of total global deployment potential, they play a key role in mitigating climate change, the Commission said. Today, more than 1.1 billion people live without access to electricity and the G20 plans to substantially contribute to ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Taking into account oil prices, energy ministers were also due to discuss energy investments in light of current market conditions. Low oil prices are the nail in the coffin for costly drilling projects. In a move hailed by environmental groups, Royal Dutch Shell announced that it is shutting down its plans to drill for oil in the Arctic. On September 28, Shell said it had “found indications of oil and gas in the Burger J well, but these are not sufficient to warrant further exploration in the Burger prospect. The well will be sealed and abandoned in accordance with US regulations”. After the disappointing results, Shell said it would now cease further exploration activity in offshore Alaska for the foreseeable future.

follow on twitter @energyinsider

- Advertisement -

Subscribe to our newsletter

Co-founder / Director of Energy & Climate Policy and Security at NE Global Media

Latest

EU Commission plans Russian gas phaseout as MEPs propose easing pre-winter storage targets

Ensuring gas supply security ahead of the winter season,...

What chance for peace in Sudan?

The conflict in Sudan has raged for two years,...

The ruling of the EU Court on “Golden passports” and the consequences in Tirana

“Whatever the European Court decides," and “If it says...

Don't miss

EU Commission plans Russian gas phaseout as MEPs propose easing pre-winter storage targets

Ensuring gas supply security ahead of the winter season,...

What chance for peace in Sudan?

The conflict in Sudan has raged for two years,...

The ruling of the EU Court on “Golden passports” and the consequences in Tirana

“Whatever the European Court decides," and “If it says...

Taking off: Qatar’s strategic rise in global aviation

For Qatar, an important development took place recently as...

From shovels to shadows: The Soviet legacy behind Georgia’s authoritarian drift

In the early hours of April 9, 1989, Soviet paratroopers launched a brutal crackdown on peaceful protesters in Tbilisi, the capital of the then-Georgian...

EU Commission plans Russian gas phaseout as MEPs propose easing pre-winter storage targets

Ensuring gas supply security ahead of the winter season, the European Parliament approved in Strasbourg on May 8 the Commission's proposal to extend the...

False economy: Washington will regret closing important diplomatic posts

At this point many readers will have seen press reports indicating that a large number of American embassies and consulates are being studied for...

The Geoeconomic Repercussions of Trump’s Tariff Pause: A Balkan Perspective

On April 2, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariffs under the banner of “Liberation Day”—a dramatic economic maneuver that reintroduced a 10...

U.S.-China tariff struggle, Iran issue affect energy demand, oil prices

International Energy Agency (IEA) Executive Director Fatih Birol said on April 23 oil prices may decline further this year due to slow demand growth...

Back to the 1970s: Flared trousers and tank tops. Is this the result of Trump’s tariff tantrums?

There are somewhere some dreadful photographs of this author wearing what we all once thought were the height of fashion and style. Generally, that...

Doom, gloom or boom?

While it is an almost painful daily task to ascertain where the Trump administration is positioned on the question of tariff policy, and traders...

Ahead of nuclear talks, Trump administration orders new sanctions on Iran’s shadow fleet and Chinese refiners

Washington’s sanctions campaign of “maximum pressure on Iran” is intensifying, despite the start of initial discussions between the U.S. and Iran over nuclear issues...