Germany Says Idea of EU Gas Buyers Cartel Cannot Work

Norway and its main gas buyer in the European Union, Germany, agree that there is no need to establish a gas buyer's cartel in Europe, officials said on Friday.

The idea of EU buying natural gas as a group was first put forward by Poland's then-prime minister Donald Tusk, the current EU president, as an option to stand up to Russia and its state gas company Gazprom. However, many critics have argued that such a move would breach EU competition law.

"We don't favour any single buyer concept, or anything like that," Rainer Baake, Germany's deputy economy minister, told journalists after meeting with Norwegian Energy Minister Tord Lien. "We agreed on that and I'm pretty sure that the discussions in the EU are going to that side."

Although the single gas buyer idea has run into opposition, the European Commission is pursuing plans to reduce its dependence on Russia, the bloc's biggest energy supplier, and to develop ties with friendly producer nations such as Norway.

Russia supplies meet about a third of EU's gas consumption, while Norway delivers one fifth.

Norwegian gas supplies account for a third of German imports while Russia holds the biggest share in Germany with 38.6 percent.

The European Commission plans to publish a draft energy union strategy next Wednesday that says the EU needs to diversify its supply of gas and make it more resilient to supply disruptions.

"The EU will further develop its partnership with Norway, the EU's second largest supplier of crude oil and natural gas. The EU will continue to integrate Norway fully into our internal energy policies," the draft strategy seen by Reuters said.

Reporting by Joachim Dagenborg