European Energy Commissioner Cadre Simpson said that the European Union is putting “gradually” increasing pressure on importers of Russian liquefied natural gas to reduce their purchases this year.
This campaign comes within the framework of a European push to change the source of supplies from Russia, in light of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian war, since February 2022.
Although the flow of natural gas through pipelines from Russia fell to record low levels, shipments of liquefied natural gas rose, according to Bloomberg News Agency.
Simpson said she discussed the issue on Friday during an energy meeting with the United States, which is currently the largest supplier of liquefied gas to the European Union.
The Commissioner continued in a written response to questions from Bloomberg News Agency, following the meeting of the European-American Energy Council in Washington: “My message was that, this year, there must be further disengagement from exports from Russia.”
She added: “In the European Union, we are gradually putting pressure on European players to reduce purchases of liquefied natural gas from Russia, and it is important here to trust American supplies.”
According to what Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak revealed in an interview with “Expert Magazine” last week, the European Union increased its purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas to 15 million tons during the past year, an increase of 38 percent compared to its imports in 2021. This is despite calls to reduce Reliance on Russian gas.
On the other hand, Novak explained that the European Union reduced imports of natural gas via pipelines from Russia by 5 times, bringing Russia’s share of the Union’s imports of this substance to decline from 45 percent in 2021 to less than 15 percent in 2023.
He said: “Amid the sharp decline in Russian gas imports via pipelines from 2021 to 2023, the European Union increased its purchases of Russian liquefied natural gas in the same period to more than 15 million tons.”
Novak added: “Reducing consumption and declining manufacturing are two prominent factors in Europe’s abandonment of Russian gas.”
He pointed out that European Union countries gradually reduced their imports of other energy resources from Russia as well, as his country’s share in European Union imports of oil declined from 27 percent in 2021 to 4 percent in 2023, and of petroleum products from 50 percent in 2021 to 9 percent in 2023.
Gas consumption in the European Union decreased by 7 percent last year, compared to the previous year, reaching about 330 billion cubic meters, while the total decrease compared to 2021 amounted to about 20 percent.
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