Europe’s reliance on Soviet natural gas could...

Europe’s reliance on Soviet natural gas could lead to renewed friction between the United States and its allies, according to a study by Harvard University energy experts. They said Western Europe will be tempted to increase its Soviet gas imports, in part, because the Soviet Union, with the world’s largest gas reserves, is most willing to cut prices to gain or hold market share. The Harvard study predicted that by the year 2000, Western Europe will require up to 2.8 trillion cubic feet of gas per year from outside sources. In 1982, the Reagan Administration angered European allies when it barred U.S. companies and their European subsidiaries from supplying equipment for construction of a gas pipeline from Siberia to West Germany.