EU Risks Stranding Gas Investments as Bloc Builds Pipelines

The push for new routes and more infrastructure to bolster security of supply has led to "significant" investment, resulting in historic pipeline links being used less, Doug Wood, the chairman of the gas committee for the European Federation of Energy Traders in Amsterdam, said in an interview. Low utilization of gas assets may deter future investment, said Wood, who took his post on Jan. 1. "One of the challenges facing the gas industry will be what happens to those stranded assets," Wood, a former BP Plc executive, said by phone on Jan. 9. "How will they be funded? Who will pay for them?" EU leaders want to boost security of energy supplies as a conflict in Ukraine threatens natural gas flows from Russia for the third winter since 2006.