IEA Concerned About Gazprom’s Lack of Investment

Speaking to the media in Athens yesterday, Claude Mandil of the International Energy Agency once again gave a clear warning to Gazprom that he is concerned that their lack of investment could cause a supply shortfall. From the Budapest Business Journal:

Output at Gazprom’s gas fields is decreasing, and the IEA is concerned the company, the world’s largest gas producer, may not be able to supply all the fuel needed by western Europe as early as 2010, IEA director Claude Mandil said in an interview in Athens yesterday, where he attended an energy conference. „The gap could be of several billion cubic meters a year by 2010-1015,” Mandil said, referring to the difference between what Gazprom is contracted to supply to western Europe and what it would be able to supply, according to the IEA estimates. „Gazprom is saying that it is investing, but doesn’t want to give us its own estimates, so we’re not very confident.”