Record EU LNG imports from Russia

Although the European Union (EU) has set itself the goal of ending imports of fossil fuels from Russia within a few years, it is worth noting that imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from this country have increased to record levels.

According to data from the international non-governmental organization Global Witness and the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), the EU countries that want to end their energy dependence on Russia with the war in Ukraine are the largest buyers of Russian LNG .

EU countries have recently been importing more LNG from Russia than before the war.

THE PARTICIPATION OF THE EU INCREASES EVERY YEAR

While the share of EU countries in Russia’s LNG exports was 39 percent in the January-July 2021 period, this rate increased to 49 percent in 2022 and 52 percent in 2023. Thus, EU countries bought more than half of Russian LNG despite the war.

EU countries imported a record amount of LNG from Russia in the January-July period, totaling 13.2 billion cubic meters.

EU LNG imports reached the level of 9 billion cubic meters in the same period of 2021 before the war. Thus, Russian LNG imports by EU countries in seven months of this year increased by 46.6 percent above the pre-war level.

In addition, the EU countries paid approximately 5.3 billion euros to Russia for LNG imports in 7 months.

THE FIRST RANK IS SPAIN AND BELGIUM

Among the EU countries, Spain and Belgium ranked first in the purchase of Russian LNG. During this period, 18 percent of Russia’s total LNG sales were to Spain and 17 percent to Belgium.

Russia ranks fourth in world LNG exports after Australia, the United States and Qatar.

EU countries made 44 percent of their total LNG imports from the US, 17 percent from Russia and 13 percent from Qatar.

The EU’s total LNG import capacity is approximately 157 billion cubic meters per year. Although this capacity is enough to meet approximately 40 percent of the total gas demand of EU countries, bottlenecks and infrastructure constraints in various parts of Europe prevent LNG from being transferred to all countries.

Before the war between Russia and Ukraine, the EU imported 40 percent of the natural gas it used from Russia. With the war, Russia’s share of natural gas shipments to the EU fell to 8 percent.

On the other hand, the EU prepared a new energy strategy last year. In this context, the EU planned to completely get rid of its dependence on Russia for fossil fuels by 2027. However, the increase in EU LNG imports from Russia revealed the inconsistency and inconsistency with the stated target.

RUSSIA’S INCOME EXCEEDS 400 BILLION EUROS

Since the start of the war on February 24, 2022, Russia has earned a total of 413 billion euros from fossil fuel exports.

Of these revenues, €277 billion came from oil sales, €101 billion from natural gas sales and €35 ​​billion from coal sales.

Since the start of the war, EU countries have bought fossil fuels from Russia for approximately 162 billion euros. Of these, 3.4 billion euros were paid for coal, 64 billion euros for natural gas and 94.6 billion euros for oil. This shows that EU countries continue to buy fossil fuels from Russia despite the war.

Despite the decision to embargo Russian coal, crude oil and petroleum products, the EU refrains from imposing sanctions on the Russian gas it needs.

However, natural gas shipments from Russia to European countries via pipelines decreased significantly. Before the war, Russia sold 150 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year to Europe, but this figure fell to around 60 billion cubic meters last year. The EU is trying to make up for the natural gas deficit by buying LNG in large quantities and at a high price on international markets. (AA)