Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

EU signs US gas deal to curb reliance on Russia

EU signs US gas deal to curb reliance on Russia

The US and the EU have announced a major deal on liquified natural gas, in an attempt to reduce Europe's reliance on Russian energy.

The agreement will see the US provide the EU with extra gas, equivalent to around 10% of the gas it currently gets from Russia, by the end of the year.

The bloc has already said it will cut Russian gas use in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Russia currently supplies about 40% of the EU's gas needs.

The new deal will involve the US and other countries supplying an extra 15 billion cubic metres of gas on top of last year's 22 billion cubic metres.

The new total will represent around 24% of the gas currently imported from Russia.

The eventual aim is for the US and international partners to provide about 50 billion cubic metres per year to the EU.

Cutting reliance on Russia will mean generating more renewable energy and improving energy efficiency as well as increasing imports.

The deal was announced on Friday during a three-day visit by US President Joe Biden to Brussels.

Mr Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen discussed Russia's invasion of Ukraine and offered fresh support to Kyiv.

"Putin is using Russia's energy resources to coerce and manipulate its neighbours," Mr Biden told reporters in Brussels. "He's used the profits to drive his war machine."

He said the long term benefits of the deal would outweigh the short term pain that reducing Russian gas supplies would cause.

"I know that eliminating Russian gas will have costs for Europe, but it's not only the right thing to do from a moral standpoint, it's going to put us on a much stronger strategic footing."

President von der Leyen said: "We want, as Europeans, to diversify away from Russia towards suppliers that we trust that are friends and that are reliable."

She pointed out that the target 50 billion cubic metres per year "is replacing one-third already of the Russian gas going to Europe today. So we are right on track now to diversify away from Russian gas."



The EU gets 40% of its gas from Russia. If it's to wean itself off that dependency, it needs to get its energy elsewhere.

The question is, where from?

Gas is already piped from Norway - but those pipelines are already operating at maximum capacity. The EU gets relatively little from the North Sea.

New supplies will have to come from further afield, in the form of LNG - gas that's been chilled and liquified.

But there's already intense competition for LNG supplies from countries such as Algeria and Qatar, and that's been pushing up prices.

The 50 billion cubic metres of gas a year from the US - more than double the current quantity - would certainly be welcome.

But it still wouldn't fill the gap if Russian supplies were removed.

There are also question marks over how much gas the US can supply, how quickly it can increase exports to the EU - and how much those shipments will cost.

The EU has been enjoying cheap gas for many years - but now it seems to have accepted that era is coming to an end.

Russia's war with Ukraine has helped push energy prices to record highs.

Energy prices were already rising before the invasion as economies started to recover from the Covid crisis.

The Ukraine invasion prompted the EU to pledge to cut Russian gas use by two-thirds this year by hiking imports from other countries and boosting renewable energy.


The White House said that greater energy efficiency can be immediately achieved through increasing the use of smart thermostats and heat pumps.

The EU said that reductions through energy savings in homes can replace 15.5 billion cubic metres this year and that accelerating wind and solar deployment can replace 20 billion cubic metres.

The EU's goal is to save 170 billion cubic metres by 2030 through energy efficiency and by using renewable energy.

That 170 billion on top of the planned 50 billion of additional gas from the US and other countries means Europe's reliance on Russian gas could be replaced by 2030.

Russia sanctions


In response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the US is banning all Russian oil and gas imports and the UK will phase out Russian oil imports by the end of 2022.

The EU has said it will switch to alternative supplies and make Europe independent from Russian energy "well before 2030".

Germany has put on hold permission for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to open.

Meanwhile in the UK petrol prices have hit record highs as oil and gas costs soar.

Oil jumped to $139 a barrel at one point earlier this month, the highest level for almost 14 years, while wholesale gas prices for next-day delivery more than doubled.

AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Intel Reports Revenue Beats but Sees 81% Rise in Losses
Politics is a good business: Barack Obama’s Reported Net Worth Growth, 1990–2025
UN's Top Court Declares Environmental Protection a Legal Obligation Under International Law
"Crazy Thing": OpenAI's Sam Altman Warns Of AI Voice Fraud Crisis In Banking
The Podcaster Who Accidentally Revealed He Earns Over $10 Million a Year
UK Government Considers Dropping Demand for Apple Encryption Backdoor
Japanese Man Discovers Family Connection Through DNA Testing After Decades of Separation
Russia Signals Openness to Ukraine Peace Talks Amid Escalating Drone Warfare
Switzerland Implements Ban on Mammography Screening
Pogacar Extends Dominance with Stage Fifteen Triumph at Tour de France
President Trump Diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency After Leg Swelling
CEO Resigns Amid Controversy Over Relationship with HR Executive
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
Tulsi Gabbard Unveils Evidence Alleging Political Manipulation of Intelligence During Trump Administration
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Trump Announces Coca-Cola to Shift to Cane Sugar in U.S. Production
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
Moonshot AI Unveils Kimi K2: A New Open-Source AI Model
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Proposes Supplying Arms to Ukraine Through NATO Allies
US Opens First Rare Earth Mine in Over 70 Years in Wyoming
Bitcoin Reaches New Milestone of $116,000
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
Western Europe Records Hottest June on Record
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
France Requests Airlines to Cut Flights at Paris Airports Amid Planned Air Traffic Controller Strike
Poland Implements Border Checks Amid Growing Migration Tensions
Emirates Airline Expands Market Share with New $20 Million Campaign
Amazon Reaches Milestone with Deployment of One Millionth Robot
Yulia Putintseva Calls for Spectator Ejection at Wimbledon Over Safety Concerns
House Oversight Committee Subpoenas Former Jill Biden Aide Amid Investigation into Alleged Concealment of President Biden's Cognitive Health
Amazon Reaches Major Automation Milestone with Over One Million Robots
Extreme Heat Wave Sweeps Across Europe, Hitting Record Temperatures
Meta Announces Formation of Ambitious AI Unit, Meta Superintelligence Labs
Robots Compete in Football Tournament in China Amid Injuries
China Unveils Miniature Insect-Like Surveillance Drone
×