The European Union expects limited volumes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplied to Europe due to the reduced global production and the reopening of the Chinese economy, European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd March, 2023) The European Union expects limited volumes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplied to Europe due to the reduced global production and the reopening of the Chinese economy, European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said on Thursday.
"It is true that currently, we are benefiting from a milder winter and the energy sobriety applied by both EU households and industry. However, the global LNG market is expected to remain volatile due to limited volumes of new LNG becoming available, the potential rebound of the Chinese economy, and drastically reduced imports of Russian pipeline gas to Europe, which helped us fill storages last year," Sefcovic said.
In this regard, the commission's vice president urged EU states to make "full use" of the EU energy platform for joint gas purchasing to ensure the bloc's energy security next winter.
In October 2022, the European Commission proposed a package of measures to fight increasing energy prices, which includes mandatory joint purchases of 13.5 billion cubic meters of gas, which is around 15% of EU states' total gas storage filling obligations.
Under the mechanism, gas companies and firms consuming gas in EU countries should submit their gas import needs, and the EU, on its part, will hire a service provider to calculate the aggregated demand and seek offers from global gas suppliers to meet this demand.
On November 24, EU energy ministers reached a final agreement on the joint gas procurement mechanism.
The EU has been facing an energy crisis in the aftermath of imposing sanctions on Russia after it launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The Ukraine crisis and sanctions have led to disruptions of supply chains and a spike in energy prices worldwide. The bloc started seeking ways to limit its dependence on Russian fuel. As part of these efforts, the bloc has increased energy cooperation with a number of countries including Algeria, the United States, Qatar and Nigeria, importing either pipeline gas or LNG.
