Leaders of the largest EU companies have started talking about the idea that importing Russian gas might be a good idea during a period of strained relations with the US, writes Reuters. In 2021, Russian gas supplies exceeded 150 billion cubic meters, accounting for about 40% of the EU's gas imports. This was primarily Gazprom's product, with LNG purchases being not very significant in the overall volume at that time. However, during the war, Gazprom lost more than two-thirds of its exports to the EU, and its share in the union's imports fell below 10% this year, while LNG supplies from Novatek increased.
Three years after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Europe's energy security remains in question. American liquefied natural gas helped fill the gap during the 2022-2023 energy crisis, but US President Donald Trump is destroying the post-World War II relations with Europe. He has turned to energy as a trump card in trade negotiations, and businesses fear that dependence on the United States has become another vulnerable spot. According to Tatiana Mitrova, a research fellow at Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy, "it is becoming increasingly difficult to view American LNG as a neutral commodity: at some point, it may become a tool of geopolitics."
Meanwhile, as the agency notes, negotiations with Qatar on gas supplies have reached an impasse, and although the implementation of renewable energy sources has accelerated, the pace is not high enough for the EU to feel secure.
The head of the French oil company TotalEnergies, Patrick Pouyanné, warned Europe against excessive dependence on American gas. "We need to diversify routes, not rely on one or two," said Pouyanné.
"If a reasonable peace comes to Ukraine, we can return to flows of 60 billion cubic meters, maybe even 70, per year, including LNG," Reuters quotes Didier Holleaux, Executive Vice President of the French company Engie. According to him, Russia can provide about 20-25% of the EU's needs, compared to 40% before the war.
Last year, American gas covered 16.7% of the EU's imports—after Norway with 33.6% and Russia with 18.8%.
"We need Russian gas, we need cheap energy—no matter where it comes from," said Klaus Paur, Managing Director of Leuna-Harze, a petrochemical company in Germany. "We need Nord Stream 2 because we must contain energy costs."
In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, an eastern region of Germany where the Nord Stream pipeline, laid from Russia along the Baltic Sea floor, arrives, 49% of Germans want to return to Russian gas supplies, according to a survey conducted by the Forsa Institute.
In 2022, the EU set a goal to stop importing Russian gas by 2027, but twice postponed the publication of plans on this issue.
Several EU companies have opened arbitration cases against Gazprom due to gas non-deliveries after the war in Ukraine. Courts awarded German Uniper and Austrian OMV 14 billion euros and 230 million euros, respectively. German company RWE demanded 2 billion euros, while Engie and other firms have not disclosed their claims.
Engie representative Holleaux stated that Kyiv might allow Russia to supply gas through Ukraine to settle arbitration payments as a starting point for resuming contractual relations with Gazprom.