Bloomberg: Europe buys from Russia's record volumes of gas

Despite the termination of transit through Ukraine, the EU continues to purchase record volumes of Russian gas, but in the form of LNG, Bloomberg reports.

The agency notes that the volumes of LNG sold have already exceeded those that Moscow pumped through Ukraine before January 1 (in recent years, the average volume of pumping was 35-40 million cubic meters of gas per day). So, according to Bloomberg, if in 2020 Europe received about 10.5 million tons of Russian LNG, then in 2024 this figure rose to a record 15.5 million tons.

According to the agency, although sanctions are regularly tightened against Russia, the country has apparently secured the status of one of the key suppliers of raw materials to Europe. Moreover, Moscow plans to expand exports of liquefied natural gas, while at the same time sending pipeline gas to other buyers, such as China.

"Europe will still need gas, because all its efforts to wean itself off Russian gas have not been successful. It will probably end up having to buy more Russian LNG to compensate for the drop in natural gas imports from Russia," Oxford Economics economist Tatyana Orlova told Bloomberg.

Transit through Ukraine for a long time remained the only route for the supply of Russian pipeline gas to Western and Central European countries (the contract expired at the end of December, Ukraine refused to renew it). Gazprom also supplies gas via the Turkish Stream to the countries of Southern and Southeastern Europe. Deliveries via the Yamal—Europe gas pipeline will be stopped in 2022 against the background of mutual restrictions by Poland and Russia. Pumping through the Nord Stream is impossible after the undermining of both branches in September 2022.

Now, Bloomberg writes, against the background of cold weather, Europe is using up gas reserves faster than in the previous seven years. The risk of a short-term price spike is increasing, analysts surveyed by the agency believe. Against this background, Europe has begun to actively import Russian LNG, which is not yet under sanctions. According to the calculations of the Institute of Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, in the first half of 2024, Russia ranked second among LNG suppliers to Europe with a share of 21%. The first position is in the USA (46% of imports), the third is in Qatar (11%), reminds RBC.