Energy Strategy of the European Union and its Impact on Oil and Gas Assignment

Energy Strategy of the European Union and its Impact on Oil and Gas Industry - Assignment Example Several energy-related policies and ambitious measures are being planned and executed by the member states of EU in this account.To make these plans work out quickly and efficiently, additional emphasis must be laid on issues like attaining greater energy efficiency, tapping alternate sources of energy, maximising the use of renewable energy, and making use of nuclear power (Tindale, 2014). However, when an additional emphasis is laid on these above issues, it can influence the functioning of the oil and gas industries. Furthermore, in this venture, preserving the environment is also very much indispensable and so focusing on carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology is also important (Tindale, 2014). So, this report will focus on the EU’s energy strategy and its impact on the oil and gas industries. Apart from the above-discussed political scenario, the need to come up with environment-friendly energy options has prompted EU to come up with energy efficiency policies from the start of the new millennium. That is, from the mid-2000s, EU has been setting targets for its member countries to improve its energy efficiency on short-term and importantly long-term basis. Long-term basis in the sense, at the end of 2006, the EU pledged to reduce its annual consumption of primary energy options of fossil fuels by 20% by 2020. On the same lines, the European Commission as a policy directive also framed the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) for the EU, which establishes a general agenda for the promotion of energy efficiency within the member states. The main objective of the EED is to aid the EU’s member states to achieve a target of saving 20% of their energy consumption by 2020. According to the European Commission, the EU is on track to achieve a 20% reduction in 2020, 30% in 203 0, and importantly the long-term target 80% reduction in 2050 (Ea Energy Analyses, 2012). According to EU’s policies, the member states are stipulated to achieve energy efficiency in the above-depicted sectors including industries, transport, household, and importantly power or energy generation sector (European Commission, 2013). In the households, people are provided with individual metering scheme along with free of cost access to real-time energy consumption data which would help them in managing their energy consumption in a far better manner.