03/14/2023
Source: Energy & Management Powernews
In January and February 2023, Russia supplied more LNG to Europe than Qatar, becoming the second largest supplier. Calls for an import ban are growing louder.
"I call on all member states and companies to stop buying Russian LNG and to stop signing new gas contracts with Russia," Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson summed it up recently at a meeting of the Industry and Energy Committee at the European Parliament, according to media.
She recommended renouncing Russian supplies as quickly as possible and keeping an eye on security of supply. Committing not to renew existing contracts with Russia is the best way to reassure trusted partners in the long term that demand will remain important, she said.
Last year, Russia exported 45.7 billion cubic meters of gas by ship. About half of that went to Europe. This volume of shipments put Russia in third place in Europe after the U.S. and Qatar. In the first two months of this year, Russian LNG imports through Europe were 4.5 billion cubic meters, according to shipping data from analyst Kpler, Simson said, with 80 percent of the shiploads going to Belgium, France and Spain.
Spain increased Russian imports
Spain in particular increased its LNG imports from Russia. While the share of Russian imports measured against consumption in the country was just under 6 percent in February 2022, at 2.174 billion kWh (about 217 million cubic meters), according to Enagas data, it averaged just under 6 billion kWh in January and February 2023, almost 18 percent. This noticeably shortened the gap to the top suppliers Algeria and the USA. Just recently, during a working visit to Madrid, Energy Commissioner Simson praised the excellent supply network of six LNG terminals and pipeline connection to Algeria at a press conference. This was reported in the Spanish edition of Euractive on March 12. What Simson did not mention were Spain's increased LNG imports from Russia.
If Russia is now Spain's third-largest supplier, the balance across Europe is a bit more pronounced. "According to the results of the first two months of 2023, Russian LNG improved its position, overtaking Qatar and moving into second place among the largest suppliers," Maria Belova, research director at Vygon Consulting, said on March 10, according to Russian news agency RIA Novosti. March.
Vice Premier Novak wants to push the pace
The urgency of LNG expansion for Russia was made clear by Vice Premier Alexander Novak in a March 7 working meeting with representatives of ministries, companies such as Gazprom, Novatek and Rosatom, and research institutions. According to him, in the medium term, LNG production should increase from the current 33 to 100 million tons per year. With regard to current construction projects such as Ust-Luga and Arctic LNG 2, production capacity could be doubled to 66 million tons of LNG per year. For the remaining 34 million tons, the necessary resource base would have to be developed.
The complex cooperation between authorities and companies should be directed toward ensuring the localization of large and medium-sized facilities for the LNG industry and reducing administrative hurdles with appropriate measures, he said. Therefore, Nowak instructed to develop new promising projects with the necessary resource base. Working groups are to assess the degree of import independence in the industry, create a roadmap for localizing LNG production facilities and technologies with indigenous technologies accounting for 80 percent of the industry's needs. Equally high on the agenda is personnel training, as the war of aggression in Ukraine has exacerbated the country's shortage of skilled workers. What China can contribute to all this is in the works.
Author: Josephine Bollinger-Kanne
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