From January to September 2023, Europe imported roughly the same amount of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) as in the same period last year, with notable increases in Spain, Belgium and France.
Source: Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) report, reports “European truth” with reference to EUObserver
Details: Spain and Belgium doubled their LNG imports from Russia during this period compared to the same period last year, while France saw imports of Russian LNG rise by 40%.
Some 27% of Spain’s LNG imports during this period came from Russia, and Belgium relied even more heavily on Russia, receiving 37% of its LNG. France, for its part, received 15 percent of its LNG from Russia.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the EU promised to reduce dependence on Russian fossil fuels but quickly faced concerns that it was replacing one form of pollution with another.
New data shows that European countries are continuing to expand LNG infrastructure even as demand for LNG and gas is expected to decline.
Europe has increased its LNG receiving capacity: since the beginning of 2022, six new LNG terminals have been commissioned.
And plans for new regasification LNG terminals should bring European LNG receiving capacity to 406 billion cubic meters.
However, according to the institute’s forecasts, demand for LNG will not exceed 150 billion cubic meters in 2030, indicating a potential surplus.
“The decline in gas demand calls into question the thesis that Europe needs more LNG infrastructure to achieve energy security goals. The data shows that this is not the case,” said Ana Maria Jaller-Makarevic, energy analyst at IEEFA.
“European countries risk exchanging dependence on Russian pipelines for an oversupplied LNG system, which further exposes the continent to price volatility,” she added.
LNG imports from the United States have risen sharply since 2022, making the US the EU’s top supplier, accounting for 46% of total EU supplies.
But Russia ranks second, providing 12% of LNG supplies for the entire EU.
Among EU member states, Spain is the largest importer of Russian LNG, followed by France and Belgium.
Overall, the EU spent about 5.5 billion euros on Russian LNG, according to the IEEFA report.
What preceded:
Seimas of Lithuania supported the ban from November any import, loading and degassing of Russian liquefied gas (LNG) at all facilities. European Commissioner for Energy Kadri Simson called on EU countries in the spring stop supplies of Russian LNG. She said companies should not renew long-term contracts after current ones end. It is noteworthy that Britain introduced a ban on imports Russian liquefied natural gas from January 1, 2023.
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2023-10-31 08:47:12
