In March, the European Union (EU) signed an agreement with the United States for new gas supplies totaling 15 BCM in 2022, according to the Bloomberg agency. (Photo: Getty Images)
This is a major tipping point in the global energy market. For the first time in history, US natural gas exports to Europe now exceed those of Russia, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).
As can be seen in this graph, in June, shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States to the European market — shipped by ship from the Gulf of Mexico — surpassed Russian gas shipments through the Gulf of Mexico. through gas pipelines.
Following the invasion of Ukraine, the European Union imposed restrictions on the export of Russian gas to its territory. (Source: International Energy Agency)
The tipping point occurred around deliveries of five billion cubic meters (trillion cubic meters or BCM) of natural gas.
This crossing of the volume curves is of course due to the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian army, since February 24th.
Following this attack, Western — but especially European — countries imposed several economic sanctions on Russia, starting with a significant reduction in its natural gas deliveries to Europe.
Since the start of the invasion, Russian gas exports there have fallen by half, according to IEA data. Meanwhile, LNG shipments from the United States to Europe increased slightly.
Europe wants to get rid of Russian natural gas
And they are set to increase further. In March, the European Union (EU) signed an agreement with the United States for new gas supplies totaling 15 BCM in 2022, according to the Bloomberg agency.
In March, the European Commission (the executive body of the EU) indicated that it wanted reduce by two thirds European imports of Russian gas in 2022, to be completely free of it by 2030.
To put things into perspective, before the invasion of Ukraine, Russia was exporting about 150 BCM of natural gas per year to Europe through pipelines, in addition to 14 to 18 BCM of LNG – for a grand total from 164 to 168 BCM per year.
To compensate for the lasting decline in its exports to Europe, Russia intends to sell more and more of its natural gas in Asia, particularly in China, a country which has significant energy needs.