MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th January, 2023) The EU spent around 101 billion Euros ($110 billion) on gas imports in the third quarter of 2022, the highest figure for the past 10 years, with record numbers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) coming from the United States, the European Commission said on Friday.
"Overall EU gas imports rose by 2% in the same period (in the third quarter of 2022 year-on-year), while production fell further by 9%. The EU spent an estimated ��101 billion on gas imports in the quarter - the highest in the last decade," the statement read.
The European Commission added that the EU had also increased LNG imports by almost 90% in the third quarter of the last year amid a massive decrease in Russian exports, with supplies from the US accounting for much of the growth.
"Much of this increase was due to higher volumes from the US. Indeed provisional figures for January-November 2022 put the EU's LNG imports from the US at 52 bcm (billion cubic meters), compared to 22 bcm in the whole of 2021," the European Commission stated.
In addition, the share of LNG in the EU's gas imports rose to a record high of 39% within extra-EU gas imports, being the most important import supply source, the statement read.
At the same time, the volume of pipeline gas supplies from Russia and Norway � once the main suppliers of pipeline gas to the EU � declined and reached 11% and 26%, respectively, of total EU supplies, the European Commission said.
In the second quarter of 2022, the share of LNG supplies was 34% later to become the most significant part of EU gas imports.
After the beginning of Russia's military operation in Ukraine in February 2022 and the adoption of several packages of sanctions against Moscow by the EU, the bloc has dramatically curbed its imports of Russian gas while looking for alternatives to Russian natural gas, following its pledge to end its dependence on energy supplies from Russia.
