US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with her European Union counterpart, High Representative Catherine Ashton, in Lisbon Friday to discuss alternative ways to supply the EU with natural gas.
The EU is beholden to Russia for a significant chunk of its gas supply, and has been pushing for the development of a "Southern Corridor" to bring gas from the Caspian Basin, Central Asia and the Middle East to the EU.
The meeting reviewed the principles of the Energy Security Working Group, a task force charged with reviewing arrangements for the management of emergencies in electricity, gas and liquid fuel markets.
"We were encouraged by progress since the last meeting in the development of a Southern Corridor to diversify sources and routes to help meet Europe's long-term natural gas requirements," said Clinton, Ashton, and other principals in a statement after the meeting.
The statement also noted the June 7 signing of a gas transit and pricing agreement between Turkey and Azerbaijan, which allowed producers and shippers to negotiate contracts to bring Caspian gas to European markets.
The leaders also considered alternative, non-Caspian sources of gas for the Southern Corridor, such as Iraq. They called on Iraqi authorities to implement new hydrocarbon and revenue sharing agreements.
Recurrent disputes between Ukraine and Russia over gas supply contracts have resulted in disruptions in EU-bound gas transiting Ukraine, including in January 2009, when 18 European end-user countries experienced major drops in supply.
Principals at the meeting said they were "encouraged by the initial steps Ukraine has made to reform its energy market," including two laws passed over the summer governing natural gas markets and aligning domestic gas tariffs to market conditions.
"We also expressed our intention to seek further progress in the implementation of the March 2009 Joint Declaration on the modernization of the Ukrainian gas transit system that was signed by the European Commission, Ukraine and the International Financial Institutions," they said.
The EU is beholden to Russia for a significant chunk of its gas supply, and has been pushing for the development of a "Southern Corridor" to bring gas from the Caspian Basin, Central Asia and the Middle East to the EU.
The meeting reviewed the principles of the Energy Security Working Group, a task force charged with reviewing arrangements for the management of emergencies in electricity, gas and liquid fuel markets.
"We were encouraged by progress since the last meeting in the development of a Southern Corridor to diversify sources and routes to help meet Europe's long-term natural gas requirements," said Clinton, Ashton, and other principals in a statement after the meeting.
The statement also noted the June 7 signing of a gas transit and pricing agreement between Turkey and Azerbaijan, which allowed producers and shippers to negotiate contracts to bring Caspian gas to European markets.
The leaders also considered alternative, non-Caspian sources of gas for the Southern Corridor, such as Iraq. They called on Iraqi authorities to implement new hydrocarbon and revenue sharing agreements.
Recurrent disputes between Ukraine and Russia over gas supply contracts have resulted in disruptions in EU-bound gas transiting Ukraine, including in January 2009, when 18 European end-user countries experienced major drops in supply.
Principals at the meeting said they were "encouraged by the initial steps Ukraine has made to reform its energy market," including two laws passed over the summer governing natural gas markets and aligning domestic gas tariffs to market conditions.
"We also expressed our intention to seek further progress in the implementation of the March 2009 Joint Declaration on the modernization of the Ukrainian gas transit system that was signed by the European Commission, Ukraine and the International Financial Institutions," they said.
