Europe may be left without oil: Russia has nothing to do with it

The law The EU methane emissions law, which will come into force next year, will limit oil supplies depending on emissions and may cut off the European Union from half of current supplies. This was warned by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

From January 2027, oil and gas supplied to the EU must comply with emission monitoring requirements equivalent to EU or OGMP 2.0 standard supported by the UN. The agency said that world production of 22.5 million barrels per day will meet the standard, while The EU imports more than 9 million barrels. However, not all supplies will be available to EU countries.

"We estimate that the volume of traded oil that refineries The EU can legally import, it will be reduced by more than 50%," the IEA said in its July oil report, Reuters writes.

The fact is that different types of oil are produced in the world and some grades of oil are difficult to replace, and producers may prefer to sell their products to more profitable markets outside Europe, the agency believes. They gave an example of heavy oil used in the production of asphalt. It is supplied to the EU mainly from Mexico and Venezuelans who do not meet the standards EU on methane.

"Limiting the volume of oil for refineries The EU may lead to an increase in raw material costs or a transition to the use of suboptimal grades of oil," the IEA said.

As noted by Reuters, the ambassadors EU should discuss methane law in Brussels on Wednesday and more than half of the EU member states, including Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic, called for a postponement of the introduction of the rules due to fears that oil supplies will drop sharply.

"EU governments are also slowly preparing to implement these rules. No country The EU has not established a compliance body, which means that companies currently do not have the opportunity to confirm compliance with the requirements. The European Commission has developed plans to abolish fines for companies that violate methane regulations, but has so far resisted calls to postpone their introduction," the agency adds.