US overtakes Russia in gas exports to EU — RT Business News
U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) volumes were higher than Russian gas in June
For the first time, the EU has bought more liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States than natural gas via a pipeline from Russia, the executive director of the International Energy Agency tweeted on Thursday ( AIE), Fatih Birol, adding that the proportion had changed due to the latest cuts in Russian supplies.
“Recent sharp cuts in natural gas flows to the EU by Russia mean this is the first month in history in which the EU has imported more gas via LNG from the US than via a pipeline from Russia, » he added. Birol wrote.
« The drop in Russian supply calls for efforts to reduce demand from the EU to prepare for a difficult winter, » he added.
The surge in US LNG imports comes amid the European Union’s bid to reduce its reliance on Russian energy, making it difficult for the bloc to increase Ukraine-related sanctions .
In June, Russian gas supplies through the Nord Stream pipeline were cut by 60% due to technical problems related to Western sanctions against Moscow. Russia’s Gazprom said German equipment maker Siemens Energy failed to return gas-pumping units to a compressor station in time because the repaired turbines were stuck at a maintenance facility in Canada due to sanctions. Ottawa versus Russia.
Additionally, the pipeline operator plans to shut down gas flows to Germany for 10 days in mid-July due to scheduled annual maintenance. According to a statement from Nord Stream AG, both sections of the route will be interrupted from July 11 to July 21.
Russia has also cut gas supplies to Finland, Poland, Bulgaria, Denmark’s Orsted, Dutch company GasTerra and energy giant Shell for its German contracts – for refusing to adopt the gas-for-ruble payment system introduced by Moscow in response to the sanctions.
In March, the EU agreed to buy an additional 15 billion cubic meters of US LNG this year in a bid to limit Russian gas purchases. The bloc wants to replace a third of Russian gas imports with LNG from various sources in 2022.
Until recently, annual gas volumes from Russia to Europe amounted to around 150 billion cubic meters, with an additional 14 to 18 billion cubic meters sent as LNG. More than 40% of the continent’s total natural gas imports came from Russia.
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