Natural gas corridors among the EU and its main suppliers: Simulation results with the dynamic GASTALE mode

European demand for natural gas has grown and is expected to expand considerably in the next decades. This growth is partly induced by the environmental policy targets, e.g., the Kyoto pro-tocol, and the European energy market liberalisation. However this development also poses a challenge for the energy consumers in the EU and other gas importing countries with respect to the increasing dependency on gas imports and consequently also the security of gas supplies. Moreover, the importance of gas transit routes into the EU is becoming a more important part of this threat. This paper studies investment decisions by Transmission and Storage System Operators concerning the gas corridors connecting EU markets with its main suppliers in a liberalised gas market with imperfect competition.