Russia isn't winning energy battle: IEA's Birol

By Murat Temizer

STAVANGER, Norway (AA) - Russia is not winning the energy battle, and it has lost one of its strategic energy partners, said Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Birol, who spoke Monday during the ONS 2022 International Energy Conference held in Stavanger, Norway, said that Russia's goals of bringing 30 billion cubic meters (bcm) of LNG capacity by 2030 will have to go back to the drawing board.

There is a misconception when it comes to incomes, said Birol, a Turkish economist and energy expert.

"Russia is not winning the energy war," he said. "I think that's a myopic view of the situation. Russia has lost one of its strategic energy partners. Moscow has lost great trust among customers around the world."

He also pointed out that many people complain that it is late to clean energy after the negative developments in the energy market.

"There is a drought. Half of the nuclear power plants in France are not operational. This crisis has nothing to do with being late for clean energy options," Birol said.