Finland eyes all pipeline options

ATHENS, Greece, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Europe needs to take advantage of all of its natural gas pipeline options in order to secure regional demands, the Finnish foreign minister said.

Europe is looking for new ways to bring natural gas supplies to its consumers. Gas disruptions from a January row between Kiev and Moscow exposed vulnerabilities in the regional energy sector as 80 percent of all Russian gas flows through Soviet-era pipelines in Ukraine.

Europe aims to diversify the gas sector with its Nabucco pipeline from Caspian and Middle East suppliers, while Russia looks to its South Stream and Nord Stream pipeline options.

Alexander Stubb, the Finnish foreign minister, said Europe should consider all three options, the online news agency New Europe reports.

"We need Nord Stream, we need Nabucco and we need South Stream," he said.

The January gas row renewed geopolitical tensions in the regional energy sector. Stubb said his priority was securing gas supplies, however, not diplomatic strains.

"For us it's neither a political issue nor an economic issue and we're not going to benefit or lose out from the Nord Stream gas pipeline in any way," he said.

Nord Stream would travel through the Gulf of Finland and the Baltic Sea to Germany.