EU's Costa says Russian LNG phase-out makes room for US supplies
Kyiv • UNN
The EU plans to present a roadmap for abandoning Russian fuel. This will be a signal for companies to increase LNG purchases from the US, said European Council President António Costa.
The upcoming publication by the European Union of a roadmap for abandoning the purchase of Russian fossil fuels will signal to companies that they should buy more liquefied natural gas from the United States, European Council Chairman António Costa said in an interview with Bloomberg, UNN writes.
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The 27-nation bloc is due to present its plan to phase out energy purchases from Moscow on May 6 after Russia sharply cut natural gas exports to Europe following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, triggering unprecedented increases in fuel and electricity prices.
EU is set to present a plan to stop importing Russian oil and gas in May15.04.25, 12:44 • 7869 views
The EU, whose dependence on Russian gas has fallen to about 19% of total supplies last year compared to more than 40% before the war, will continue to reduce its imports, Costa told Bloomberg in an interview in Hamburg this week.
"This creates space in the market for imports from other suppliers, which means new opportunities for the United States," Costa said.
This comes as the EU is exploring a deal with the US to resolve a trade dispute. US President Donald Trump has repeatedly called on Europe to buy more American energy if the bloc wants to avoid tariffs.
The United States is currently the third largest gas supplier to the EU.
While trade negotiations between the US and the EU are being conducted by the European Commission, decisions on signing new contracts for the purchase of LNG from the US are in the hands of companies and depend on their view of the market and prices. According to Costa, many of them have long-term contracts with Russia.
"The political signal from the European Commission is that there are good reasons for European companies to find good prices in the US," Costa said. "There is a great opportunity to increase LNG imports from the US."
The roadmap, which is being worked on by the EU executive, should offer European companies tools to break long-term contracts with Russia. The European Commission is considering a recommendation to use trade measures such as quotas or tariffs at EU level, Bloomberg reports.
Although sanctions against imports of Russian gas could theoretically be the strongest legal tool for EU buyers to declare force majeure and stop purchases, the EU has not yet proposed this, as it would not have received the necessary unanimous support amid opposition from Hungary and Slovakia, the publication writes. And trade instruments can be adopted by a qualified majority.