Argentine President and German Chancellor discussed energy cooperation

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Argentine President Alberto Fernandez discussed the prospects for cooperation in the field of liquefied natural gas (LNG), lithium and green hydrogen at a meeting in Buenos Aires.

“We talked about gas, <...> our lithium deposits and our green hydrogen production,” the Argentine leader said after the meeting.

He noted that his state plans to become a reliable energy supplier, adding “Newspaper.ru“.

Scholz reportedly showed interest in partnering with Argentina on LNG and drew attention to the prospects for projects in the field of solar energy.

As Fernandez said, one of the goals on which there is no agreement yet is “protectionism of the countries of Europe”, which creates difficulties in the supply of agricultural products from South America.

On January 17, Scholz announced that Germany would be able to stock up on the necessary amount of natural gas by 2024. The head of government assured that the situation with the shortage of gas in Germany would not happen again due to the increase in LNG imports.

On January 16, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said that Germany needs to continue saving energy in order to prepare for spring and summer. He said that in early December 2022, the citizens of the country consumed 1% of the accumulated gas reserves every day. At the moment, German gas storage facilities are 90.4% full.

January 14 in Germany reported that the energy crisis in Europe is far from over. The DWN newspaper noted that after Europe’s refusal to import Russian energy carriers, it has to buy LNG, which is transported mainly by ships, which is why it costs them much more than pipe.

A day earlier, Klaus Ernst, head of the German parliamentary committee on energy and climate protection, called for the lifting of sanctions against Russia imposed by the European Union. He noted that the rejection of Russian gas led to a strong increase in energy prices and inflation in general.

Western states decided to reduce their dependence on Russian energy resources against the backdrop of a Russian special military operation to protect the civilian population of Donbass. However, as a result, a serious energy crisis began in the European region.