EU needs to be prepared for Russian attacks on energy system: EC official

The EU needs to prepare for the possibility of Russian attacks on its energy system, a lead official at the European Commission warned attendees at a natural gas and LNG industry gathering May 20.

"Both physical and hybrid attacks on our energy infrastructure, on our gas infrastructure, on our LNG terminals -- we need to be prepared for that," Ruud Kempener, deputy head of unit for energy security and safety in the EC's Directorate-General for Energy, said at the Flame conference in Amsterdam. "This is not some theoretical element. We see that this is happening in Ukraine."

Kempener's comments underscore the degree to which energy security has become a key concern for Brussels -- both in terms of ensuring supply availability and infrastructure resilience.

The EU is updating its energy security framework, and the heightened risk of attacks on energy assets is a guiding consideration in the process, according to Kempener. He said he expects the EC to release the updated document for public review after the summer, though he added that a final date has not yet been set.

Gas storage

In addition to physical asset security, the EC is also considering future approaches to gas storage regulation, according to Kempener. The EU revised its gas storage regulation in 2025 to make filling targets more flexible than those imposed shortly after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The updated regulation runs through the end of 2027.

Kempener said the EC is assessing questions such as whether there needs to be gas filling targets for every member state and whether such targets could be defined differently -- for instance, based on gas consumption rather than as a percentage of storage capacity.

EU gas stores were 36.7% full as of May 18, according to the latest data published by Gas Infrastructure Europe.

The continent is refilling stocks amid an elevated price environment spurred by the Middle East war. Platts, part of S&P Global Energy, assessed the month-ahead Dutch TTF gas price at Eur51.885/megawatt-hour on May 19, up 4.1% day over day.

Russian phaseout

Kempener also reiterated that the EC remains committed to one of the EU's most consequential recent energy policies: the phaseout of Russian gas and LNG imports.

"Phasing out Russian gas will be a key priority for the EU," he told Flame attendees. "Those deadlines that are in the legislation, we will continue to adhere to them."

Since the outbreak of the war in the Middle East and the resulting hit to global LNG supply, some players in the European gas market have called for the EU to pull back on the move away from its once-dominant supplier. However, the EC has repeatedly said it will push ahead with the pivot away from Russian supplies.

Bans on all spot imports of Russian pipeline gas and LNG, as well as LNG imported into the EU under short-term contracts, have been in effect since March.

All imports of Russian LNG into the EU will be outlawed from Jan. 1, 2027, when a ban on imports under long-term contracts takes effect.

A halt to pipeline gas imports from Russia under short-term contracts is slated for June 17. Pipeline imports under long-term contracts will be banned from Sept. 30, 2027, if member states are on track to meet gas storage filling targets, and as late as Nov. 1, 2027, if they are not on track.