Russia once again became Europe’s leading gas supplier in May, reports the Financial Times.
In May, Russian gas accounted for 15% of supplies to the EU, UK, Switzerland, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia, compared to 14% for US gas. , reports the Financial Times.
This is the first time in two years that Russia has overtaken the United States.
“ It is surprising to see the share of Russian gas and LNG on the European market increasing, after all the efforts made to move away from it. This highlights how complicated it is to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian gas“, explains Tom Marzek-Manser, analyst at the consulting company ICIS, quoted by the British daily.
Yet when Russia begins supplying LNG to Asia via the Northern Sea Route this summer, the volumes sent to Europe will be reduced, the analyst assumes.
European countries have taken several measures to restrict the import of Russian gas since the start of the conflict in Ukraine.
The latest discussions concern the transit of LNG in European ports.
A measure which could lead to a further increase in gas and electricity prices and weigh on inflation, recently explained Igor Yushkov, from the University of Finance at the Russian government.
As a reminder, these supplies of Russian LNG have fueled debates in the EU, pushing Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson to call on companies and member countries to “reduce these Russian LNG deliveries, or even eliminate them completely”.
According to CREA, in 2023, 13% of EU LNG imports by volume came from Russia, or 17.25 billion m3, excluding transshipments of this gas to non-EU member states.
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