U.S. promises EU more LNG supplies.

The U.S. wants to help secure gas supplies to the EU with more LNG if Russia stops or further reduces its gas deliveries to the EU. This is according to the conclusions of the US-EU Energy Council, which EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson attended in Washington. However, the pledge does not specify how much more LNG is involved.

"By trying to reduce our dependence on a single supplier, we are naturally turning to the U.S., our largest LNG supplier and reliable partner," Kadri Simson said. She said she is confident she will find ways for strong U.S. LNG exports to the EU in the coming months. Unlike in 2016, when the EU negotiated a free trade agreement (TTIP) with the U.S., which eventually fell through, the U.S. seems very interested in selling its fracked gas to the EU. But Asia has so far been willing to pay more for it than the EU.

About 41 percent of the EU's gas supply depends on Russia, 16 percent on Norway, 8 percent on Algeria and 5 percent on Qatar. According to the EU Commission, the EU's total gas storage facilities are currently 40 percent full, and Gazprom's in the EU is 19 percent full. Germany is the most dependent EU country on Russian natural gas, followed by Italy, which receives less than half as much of it as Germany.

Based on data from U.S. economic data firm Refinitiv, the U.S. was the EU's largest LNG supplier in November 2021, followed by Qatar and Russia. In total, the EU received 7 billion cubic meters of LNG that month.

The EU Commission is also holding talks on additional LNG supplies with Norway, Qatar Algeria and Azerbaijan. Simson was on a buying spree in Baku on Feb. 3 for more pipeline gas to reach the EU via the TAP trans-Adriatic pipeline. The pipeline's annual export capacity is to be increased to 10 billion m³ from the current 8 billion m³.