Main information
- EU companies suggest importing Russian gas to reduce energy dependence on the United States.
- Large industrial centers, such as the German chemical park of Leuna, argue in favor of a rapid resumption of Russian gas deliveries due to serious economic consequences and job losses.
- Some EU companies have started an arbitration procedure against Gazprom, which could lead Russia to fulfill its contractual obligations by sending gas via Ukraine.
Europe’s energy security remains fragile more than three years after Ukraine invasion by Russia. If American liquefied natural gas made it possible to fill the vacuum left by Russian supplies during the 2022-2023 crisis, Europe’s dependence on the United States is raising more and more concerns. The tense relations of the Trump administration with Europe and its tendency to use energy as a currency in trade negotiations have fueled anxieties linked to vulnerability.
In this context, some leaders of large European companies suggest a hitherto unthinkable solution: importing Russian gas, including Gazprom. This proposal would require a significant change in policy, given that the EU has undertaken to end the imports of Russian energy by 2027, after the invasion.
Europe’s energy dilemma
Patrick Pouyanne, CEO of Totalenergies, warns against excessive dependence on American gas, emphasizing the need for a diversification and multiplicity of the supply routes. While acknowledging that Europe will not return to the pre-war dependence levels vis-à-vis Russian gas (150 billion cubic meters), it provides for a potential return to around 70 billion cubic meters.
Germany, which strongly depended on cheap Russian gas before the war, faced particularly acute problems. The Leuna chemical park, an important industrial center, pleads in favor of a rapid resumption of Russian gas deliveries, invoking the serious economic consequences and the losses of jobs due to the current energy crisis.
-EU companies are looking for alternative solutions
The German chemical industry claims that the reopening of gas pipelines would be more effective in reducing prices than all existing grant programs. This feeling reflects an increasing discomfort as to the dependence of Europe with regard to American LNG, in particular in the light of the current trade war with China and the possibility for the United States to make its gas exports a geopolitical tool.
Some fear that the United States would restore its LNG exports in the event of an outbreak of interior prices or climbing tensions. Some analysts believe that the growing demand for industrial sectors and the development of artificial intelligence could lead the United States to give priority to their own needs rather than those of their European allies.
Arbitration and renewed contracts
Several EU companies have initiated an arbitration procedure against Gazprom for breach of contract following the invasion. While court decisions have granted substantial sums to German and Austrian companies, Holleaux, ENGIE, suggests that Russia could start to fulfill these obligations by sending gas through Ukraine, which would potentially open the way to a renewed contractual relationship.
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