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By Kate Abnett
- Video conference planned for 1300 GMT Tuesday
- Focus on gas storage, stabilising oil product markets
- Alarm over tightening supplies of diesel and jet fuel
BRUSSELS, March 30 (Reuters) – European Union energy ministers will hold talks on Tuesday to coordinate their response to the disruption to oil and gas markets triggered by the Iran war, an internal EU briefing document showed.
Europe’s heavy reliance on energy imports has left it exposed to spiralling prices since the key shipping route the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed and Tehran started attacking energy infrastructure in the Middle East.
European gas prices have jumped more than 70% since the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began on February 28.
Ministers are invited to “indicate which concrete measures could be put in place to address the tightening of the oil and gas markets in a coordinated manner,” the EU document read.
“It remains important to avoid uncoordinated and fragmented national responses and disruptive signals to the market,” the document added.
The document said ministers should focus their efforts on filling gas storage for next winter and on stabilising oil product markets and ensuring these supplies.
The EU says its oil and gas supplies remain secure in the short term, since the bloc’s top suppliers are Norway and the United States, rather than producers directly affected by strikes and shutdowns in the Middle East.
But Europe is watching with concern as global supplies of certain products – in particular, diesel and jet fuel – tighten.
Shell’s CEO Wael Sawan last week warned that the continent could face energy shortages by April, with jet fuel, diesel and gasoline among the products being hit early.
EU officials are trying to encourage countries to start filling their natural gas storage caverns early ahead of next winter, to avoid a dash for supplies later in the year which could cause further price spikes.
The ministers will meet by video conference at 1300 GMT on Tuesday.
Reporting by Kate Abnett; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Andrew Heavens
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