We are facing a summer with fewer and more expensive aircraft. This is the assessment of the EU's Energy Commissioner, Dan Jørgensen, who is announcing initiatives to stem the energy crisis, which has been greatly exacerbated by the war in Iran.
- We are looking at a summer where it is very likely, says Dan Jørgensen (S) at a briefing on Friday at the EU Commission's office in Copenhagen.
- We are certainly looking at less activity. It cannot be avoided now.
The International Energy Agency has issued a status this week stating that there is about six weeks' worth of aviation fuel in stock. According to the EU's Energy Commissioner, however, it is not the case that the stockpiles will be completely empty in six weeks. But in six weeks you will start to experience problems with supplies.
- I would say that it will probably be considerably more expensive, so we will fly less.
If the war in Iran were to finally end today, the problem would not go away for the time being. Among other things, there is a fairly long transport time from the Persian Gulf to the warehouses in Europe.
The EU has initiatives coming
There are initiatives coming from the EU Commission specifically aimed at aviation fuel. But what they are specifically about is still unknown. They will arrive on Wednesday next week.
- How serious it will be depends on what we can actually do to stem it. We are working on that, and we will present that next week, says Dan Jørgensen.
The companies have already started to adapt to the situation by canceling flights. The travel industry in Denmark said on Friday that there is no need to fear for planned summer travel due to a shortage of jet fuel.
- We are watching the time, but for now it (the fuel situation, ed.) does not look worrying, says Jakob Hahn, director of the industry association Rejs.
The return to normal will take years
The EU has previously warned through Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen that the crisis will last a long time. On Friday, he elaborated that it could take several years before the gas infrastructure is restored. This is due to extensive destruction as a result of the war. It "will take a few years" before prices can return to "normal" levels.
Currently, EU countries spend half a billion euros more per day than they did before the crisis. This corresponds to 3.73 billion kroner per day.
Europe's gas reserves have been hit by the harsh winter in Europe, and it will be expensive to have them filled up again before next winter. While natural gas previously came mainly from Russia, the United States and Norway are now the largest suppliers. The EU has decided to completely stop importing gas from Russia from the end of 2027.
The EU Commission will use a number of initiatives on April 22 to promote increased coordination, including joint purchases of gas. It will also allow for temporary and targeted state aid.
/ritzau/
Text, graphics, images, sound, and other content on this website are protected under copyright law. DK Medier reserves all rights to the content, including the right to exploit the content for the purpose of text and data mining, cf. Section 11b of the Copyright Act and Article 4 of the DSM Directive.
Customers with IP agreements/major customer agreements may only share Danish Offshore Industry articles internally for the purpose of handling specific cases. Sharing in connection with specific cases refers to journaling, archiving, or similar uses.
Customers with a personal subscription/login may not share Danish Offshore Industry articles with individuals who do not themselves have a personal subscription to Danish Offshore Industry.
Any deviation from the above requires written consent from DK Medier.
