The US and the EU on Friday said that they reached a natural gas deal as part of an effort to reduce Europe’s reliance on Russian energy.
The EU currently relies on Russia for about 40% of its natural gas needs but is looking to stop all energy imports from Moscow by 2027 as part of the US-led effort to hurt the Russian economy.
Under the deal, the US will work with allies to deliver the EU 15 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) this year. It’s not clear how much will be exported by the US and how much will come from other countries. A Biden administration official said that the US nearly doubled its LNG exports to Europe over the past three months.
Germany, one of the countries most reliant on Russian energy, announced a plan on Friday to halve its import of Russian oil by the summer. Before Russia launched its attack on Ukraine, Germany imported 55% of its gas, 45% of its coal, and about a third of its oil from Russia.
“In the past few weeks, we have undertaken intensive efforts with all the relevant actors to import fewer fossil fuels from Russia and broaden the basis of our supply,” German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said. As part of the plan, Germany wants to get off Russian coal completely by this summer or fall.
Germany’s announcement came after Russian President Vladimir Putin said he wants European countries to pay for gas with rubles as Western sanctions targeted Russia’s use of the dollar and euro. The Kremlin warned the West on Friday that Russia will start billing gas deals in rubles soon.
Wait till next winter rolls around. Premium now, price shock later.
Time to go to work with bicycle…!
And that’s what it’s all about, getting Russia’s market share, not getting Europe off fossil fuels.
Plus creating more pollution by transporting the pollutants in half way around the world long round trip deliveries and empty returns in this one way tradings scheme… Its just power policy at its worst, devoid of concern for the environment or the future of our descendants and their children. Its becomes another nightmare of the shameless, indifferent and klepto empire. Their last gross outrage was the theft of Afghanistan peoples bank deposits, literally snatching the food money from starving afghan families. The U.S. and their Empire of lackies have lost any vestige of humanity and honor they may have at one time possesed.
LNG ships carry max 266,000 cubic metres of gas. it would take 60, 000 LNG ship deliveries for 15 billion cubic metres of gas. There arent enough ships or LNG terminals in Europe to deal with that volume
A meeting in quatar of energy suppliers stated there is no way Russias supply of gas / oil to the EU ect can be replaced by anyone else in the short term .
15 to meet 500 they need. These are fantasies,
No, what they REALLY want to do is to create conditions that would force Turkey to carry gat to Europe from Israel (which claims rights in East Med waters excluding rights of Lebanon and others and hides behind Cyprus . But that is not all. Once this infrastructure is in place, they want to reorient gas infrastructure from Itaq, Qatar and even Iran into this new direction. So the theory goes.
Nice theory. In reality all these countries have experienced wars, pressure, humiliation and fickleness of US policy towards the region. Turkey will for ecample, be halpy to talk to Israel about East Med gas transit. Sure. For a price of changing Palestinian status, opening Palestine entities to trade and economic develoment with the world, and to never prohibit humanitarian aid, to insure controlling share in the venture, etc etc
At the height of fracking craze US gloated over Saudi Arabia and others — their markets would shrink without US. Turned out they are doing really well with China and Asia in general. Qatar was blockaded because of Iranian gas field sharing. Fizzled out once MBS came to power in a palace coup. All conditions changed to “principles”, and surely, blickade dropped, Qatar back in the heart of Gulf business. Even though Iran is still there, so is Turkish military base. And Turkey survived several currency attacks, an attemted coup, proliferation of NGO pests undermining everything that they could sink their teeth into.
Coming with a smile now, Israel wants Turkey to carry gas (which it does not fully own), and Gulf is being charmed into producing more oil. This time around they are not helpless. And business can be conducted on s more equitable basis.
Business is there to be had — but without discounts empire is used to.
such good people in Europe are happy 2 pay more for a good cause of hurting Russia. I don’t think Russia would do anything hurt those big LNG boats that probably cost 250 million or more. But in war unexpected things happen.!!!!
What you have to consider is the Europeans have been under a barage of Anti Russian Propagand for 75 years , they will starve themselves to death if they think it it will hurt Russia.
So maybe we can fight the Russians to the last European.
Yeh it all sounds good until consumers get the bill .
Consensus by a lot of analysts is: That Ain’t Gonna Happen.
Do you mean that the European consumer states won’t want to spend big bucks building facilities so that they will be able to buy more expensive gas…????
And europes industry dies? LNG, even if it were available at the rates needed, is far more expensive than piped gas. This is just nonsense and the German manufacturers will have their say at some point in the process.
U.S. Not only a POX the world, but a tax on Europe too…. How long will this voluntary tax last…????? I book not very long, and perhaps that it will never be enacted…..
So the EU shifts its energy dependence from Russia–who never used energy as a weapon–to the US–who definitely will use its energy leverage over Europe as a weapon. Nice job lemmings!
The Democrats in all their irrational hatred for Russia have now succeeded in bringing fracking back big time in the U.S. … which of course the Democrats are opposed to. You just can’t make this stuff up…
Germany, the EU/NATO country which imports the greatest amount of Russian natural gas has NO LNG terminals. This should be interesting.
Natgas from the Med is the future of EU energy. US natgas is just a stopgap.
In five years or so gas fields off Greece, Crete, Turkey, Israel, and Palestine should be online and delivering natgas by ship and pipeline.
Biden’s veto of Eastmed will only last as long as his Admin.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/us-informs-israel-it-no-longer-supports-eastmed-pipeline-to-europe/ar-AASTY74
All the actions taken by the “international community” against Russia since the start of hostilities against Ukraine are nothing short of the “New World Order” on display. Globalism is the antithesis of national autonomy, and all nation states that want to survive on their own terms are advised to be as self-sufficient as possible and not expose their economies to the slings and arrows of the “international community”. Down with globalism.