Not quite as severe as in the UK, he says the trend is similar in the Netherlands, considering the decline in Groningen and the curtail in production: “Moving from a net exporter of gas to a net importer of gas.” The situation across the entire EU, according to Mr. Egan, is even worse, with the European Union importing 80% of its gas, forecast to get even worse.

The European Union last October reached an outline deal on three 2030 targets to cut emissions by at least 40 percent versus 1990, improve energy savings to at least 27 percent and to increase the share of renewable energy to 27 percent.

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico met with Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow and proposed a plan that would transfer gas from the Turkish border through Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia, thereby bypassing Greece.

Examining the essential gas transmission infrastructure projects in Europe alone - without taking into account the upstream sector – according to the European Commission, investments of at least 70 billion EUR are required by 2020, while EU funding will provide €4.7 billion for both gas and electricity PCIs between 2014 and 2020, subject to final approval of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (in 2015).

Russia is still likely to be Europe's biggest supplier of gas. Volume-wise, no one will be able to compete with Russia in Europe, at least for the next two decades.

There will be no US-style shale gas revolution in Europe, the president of the International Gas Union (IGU) has told

Wintershall will continue investing in its core regions, with Russia remaining the most important area for the company.

OAO Gazprom, the biggest natural gas producer, will probably see lower gains in Europe for at least four years as weaker oil prices and rising competition threaten to further cut its profits, a government forecast showed.

Greece's energy minister has discussed in Moscow the construction of a pipeline that will transport Russian gas to Europe through its territory, the Greek energy ministry said on Saturday.

The US and EU sanctions are primarily targeted at the country's oil industry, for very obvious reasons. Russia provides about 30% of Europe's gas, so it's simply not in the EU's interests to compromise Gazprom's ability to produce and export gas.