Flows of oil and natural gas in Europe: current situation and perspectives

The aim of this thesis is to analyze and determine the actual flow of oil and natural gas in Europe, from the results to draw conslusions of the weight of the EU's dependence on Russian energy supplies and subsequently to determine the possibilities and prospects for further security flows of oil and natural gas to the EU. Oil and natural gas are the basic strategic raw materials of world economics, including economics of European countries. Most of the European countries does not have adequate supplies of energy raw materials. In particular, EU countries are therefore dependent on external supplies of oil and natural gas. The first chapter of the thesis is focused on oil and natural gas as major raw materials for the current energy situation in Europe. I defined the terms "oil" and "natural gas" and I analyzed the significant deposits of these materials and described their current production and consumption in Europe. In the second chapter I focused on the current flows of oil and natural gas in Europe, particularly on the European network of pipelines. On the baisis of these two chapters I specified the weight of the EU's dependence on energy supplies from Russia and identified the main problems of these supplies. In the third chapter of the thesis I dealt with the security flow of oil and natural gas to the EU and its perspectives and I gave the EU energy policy. I have analyzed selected documents of European energy policy, the EU's energy mix and I identified possible ways to reduce the EU's energy dependency. I included diversification of supply routes and the diversification of EU energy mix among these options. In conclusion, I summarized the current European energy situation, assessed European energy policy and outlined its future development.