State of the European Union: Europe needs energy optionality to strengthen resilience while advancing the transition

Brussels, 16 September 2026: IOGP Europe calls for an optionality-first energy policy that strengthens security of supply, affordability and competitiveness through diversified imports, domestic production and lower-carbon solutions.

Making energy more affordable, secure and cleaner for European citizens and businesses, as President von der Leyen highlighted in the State of the Union, is a key priority for Europe.

Electrification will play a central role in this. However, delivering on this ambition requires a systemic approach to energy policy built around greater optionality, diversification and flexibility, while avoiding policies that unnecessarily constrain supply before reliable and affordable alternatives are available at scale.

Europe has since 2022 shown that oil and gas supply diversification can work. The EU should further build on this, explore new partnerships, and urgently address unresolved regulatory issues such as those in the EU Methane Regulation that risk aggravating the ongoing energy supply and affordability crisis.

As called for by President Von der Leyen, homegrown energy sources and faster permitting can also make a significant difference. Alongside renewables and nuclear, the EU should remove unnecessary barriers to domestic exploration and production and provide the stable, predictable regulatory conditions needed to responsibly develop Europe’s own oil and gas resources.

François-Régis Mouton de Lostalot, Managing Director of IOGP Europe, said:

“Without a systemic approach to energy policy and a supply architecture built around optionality, Europe’s energy resilience and affordability will remain a pipe dream.

Europe's future will be increasingly electric, but this will also introduce new costs, vulnerabilities and dependencies – not least on imported technologies and critical minerals. If Europe rushes this, ordinary Europeans and businesses will be left paying the bill – assuming they can still afford it.

Maintaining a diversified supply of natural gas and oil will be essential to meet growing grid flexibility needs and supply critical energy and feedstock for Europe’s industry.”

As Europe develops its approach to energy security, resilience should be measured across the whole system – not by the decline of any single energy source, but by Europe’s ability to meet demand securely, affordably and with progressively lower emissions.