FRANKFURT, Feb 12 - European Union Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said there was no reason for concern that persistently cold weather across Europe could cause a shortage of gas in the region.
"There is no danger," Oettinger told Reuters on the sidelines of an event late on Saturday, citing expected warmer weather, sufficient gas storage and cooperation between Ukraine and Russia.
Germany's meteorological office said in a report on Sunday that the weather should become slightly warmer.
That is likely to take the sting out of a tight energy supply scenario seen last week when demand soared in the region for power, gas and oil to keep houses warm and industrial installations producing.
Oettinger indicated that even amid the current cold spell there was no serious danger of supply shortages.
"We have more storage than we used to, we have more interconnectors. Also, Kiev and Moscow are not working against each other, everyone is making an effort," Oettinger said.
Ukraine's gas pipeline network handles the bulk of Russian gas bound for Western markets.
Separately, German weekly WirtschaftsWoche cited Hans-Peter Villis, the chief executive of German utility EnBW, as saying the situation could deteriorate soon considering that Russia's Gazprom has cut its supplies.
"Thanks to measures taken in recent days, supply is still secure and stable... But the available power plant capacity has been significantly reduced due to the shut-down of nuclear power plants, and current gas shortages are increasing the dilemma," it quoted him as saying.
The magazine said that power wholesalers in southern Germany are especially affected by reduced gas supplies.
Gazprom, which covers a quarter of Europe's gas needs or more, told analysts it has cut back on plans to boost exports to Europe this year.
But analysts said it would still be able to supply more than enough even though European customers were pleading for extra gas to cope with the cold snap. (rt/ez)
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