Energy Community Oil Forum explores role of oil in the green energy transition
Oil
The 13th Energy Community Oil Forum was opened on behalf of the Government of Serbia by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Energy and Mining, Zoran Lakicevic. The State Secretary in his welcome address underlined the importance of working on decarbonisation and implementing all elements of the Green Agenda for the Western Balkans in order to ensure security of energy supply.
Delivering the keynote speech, Director Janez Kopač recalled the importance of implementation of the Oil Stocks Directive and reiterated the fast approaching deadline of 2023 when sufficient oil stocks shall be formed. He regretted that, with the exception of Serbia and North Macedonia, all Contracting Parties have not made any genuine progress in implementation, while some have not even transposed the Directive into national law.
Besides focusing on security of oil supply and implementation of the Oil Directive, the Forum explored the changing role of oil in the green energy transition and the progress made by oil companies in decreasing their emissions footprint and aligning their strategies with the European Green Deal. In this regard, the Oil Forum welcomed the initiative for oil companies in the Energy Community Contracting Parties to start to measure and report on their methane emissions based on the OGMP 2.0 reporting framework and in cooperation with the Secretariat.