The prices of fuel, but especially diesel, and natural gas are what are causing the greatest stress and concern to the Portuguese government, as well as other OECD governments and international institutions, such as the International Energy Agency (AIE), said the Portuguese Energy Minister, Maria da Graça Carvalho, this Wednesday, at a press conference in Porto.
“Currently, we have oil reserves for 93 days. In gas, we have four weeks, so a shorter period,” he said.
According to the minister, “the International Energy Agency is essentially concerned about diesel because it is a refined product and there are a lot of refineries in that area of the Middle East”.
Therefore, “in addition to transport problems, there is also the origin of the oil and where the refining takes place”, explained the former MEP.
In addition to the vulnerability in diesel, which Portugal and many other European countries do not manufacture, they have to buy abroad, much of the Middle East, there is the issue of gas.
Maria da Graça Carvalho explained that Portugal lives with two different plans on this issue, one more favorable, the other not good, which makes her still apprehensive.
“We are very concerned about the price of gas and fortunately, in the production of electricity, we have very little gas [incorporado]. Over the years we have made a big effort in renewables.” Just as an example, “in the first two months we had 83% of electricity coming from renewables and we can still increase that,” said the minister.
It’s the only good side of storms. Portugal “is using a lot of energy from water sources, we have full dams.”
However, there is another not so good side. “Gas is essential for some of our industries, which are very important. In our country, we are talking about the glass, ceramics and clothing sectors”, he explained.
This Wednesday, the International Energy Agency (IEA) announced that the 32 member countries (one of them is Portugal) have unanimously decided that they can release part of their “emergency reserves”, which in the IEA as a whole is the largest ever”, but the minister considers that in the case of Portugal (10% of total fossil energy reserves) it is even little. She even said that “it is almost symbolic from the Portuguese point of view”, it is above all an act of solidarity and to show unity between countries in the face of the current energy crisis.
“We are very cautious with reserves and it would always be a small part of our reserves. What we agreed at the International Energy Agency level is that 10% of our reserves can be released together with other OECD countries to face large price increases, but we did not agree that we were going to do it today or during this week”, explained the minister.
But with this agreement, “now we have that possibility, we will also coordinate with our European colleagues in the European Union to see exactly what we are going to do, but it will always be a small part [no caso de Portugal]”, reinforced the minister.
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