The United States says it is in talks so that other major natural gas producers can increase their production and divert it to Europe if necessary.
United States says it will take precautions to secure Europe ‘s gas supplies if pipeline gas supplies from Russia are disrupted. The White House says it is working to secure access to gas from the rest of the world and believes help could come in a couple of weeks if needed.
The EU is particularly dependent on Russian natural gas. The EU imports 90% of the natural gas it needs, almost half of which comes from Russia, mainly through pipelines.
As relations between the West and Russia tighten due to the situation in Ukraine, Europe has begun to speculate on whether Russia could use energy supplies as a weapon against EU countries. Already during the autumn, Russia has restricted gas supplies so that less gas has entered Europe than usual.
White According to House officials, the United States has made contingency plans with EU countries in recent weeks in the event that Russia damages pipeline infrastructure or restricts supplies, for example in retaliation for Western economic sanctions.
The situation this winter is particularly difficult, as Europe’s gas reserves are exceptionally empty. Therefore, the United States says it has held talks to secure the flow of gas from other sources.
“We are in discussions with major natural gas producers around the world to understand what their ability and desire is to temporarily increase production and direct it to European buyers,” White House officials told a background speech to the media.
Similar discussions The White House says it is working with major buyers and brokers of liquefied natural gas. According to the White House, the discussions have already been reflected in the way in which Asian buyers have resold supplies to Europe since the beginning of the year.
The aim is to ensure that backup deliveries are available as soon as possible. Officials say deliveries from the rest of the world could reach Europe in a week or two if needed.
“As we know, there is still natural gas in Europe’s storage, although not enough. We could use the stocks for the first couple of weeks until new deliveries help. ”
Primarily plans are being made for Russia to cut off gas supplies through Ukraine. According to the White House, cutting off supplies in other pipes would be a more severe and unlikely action. The White House recalls that Russia is highly dependent on its fossil export revenues from Europe.
Also a professor of Russian environmental policy Brother-Pekka Tynkkynen estimates in an earlier HS interview that the threshold for using an energy weapon is high for Russia.
“Russia certainly doesn’t want to go over that threshold. In the longer term, Russia would shoot itself in the foot. It would strengthen European unity and strengthen efforts to break away from Russian energy. “
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