site.btaNo Short-Term Risk to EU Fuel Supplies, European Commission Spokesperson Says

The European Union (EU) is much more concerned about rising fuel prices than about the short-term security of fuel supplies, a Spokesperson for the European Commission said here on Monday at a press conference in response to questions related to developments in the Middle East. 

According to the Spokesperson, the EU has sufficient natural gas reserves until the end of the heating season, and there is no need at this stage to draw on stored oil reserves. In the short term, the impact remains limited, he summarized. 

He noted that the EU does not import fuel from Iran, and that all EU Member States have oil reserves covering 85–90 days. This also applies to Hungary and Slovakia, whose supplies from Russia via Ukraine were disrupted due to a malfunction in the Druzhba pipeline. So far, no EU country has had to use its strategic oil reserves because of events in the Middle East, the Spokesperson explained. 

The EU is monitoring the rise in energy prices with concern, but there is still no need for urgent action, he added. The Spokesperson also noted that the Union is seeking to reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels. 

Commenting reports that Mojtaba Khamenei has been sanctioned by the EU, the Spokesperson clarified that this is not true. He added that the Iranian people should choose their representatives. The Spokesperson explained that the EU is referring to the selection of Mojtaba Khamenei by Iran’s Assembly of Experts as the country’s new Supreme Leader.