In conjunction with European countries’ search for other sources of gas instead of Russia, figures published by the European Commission show that Moscow provided about 45% of EU gas imports during 2021.
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European Commission: Russia provided about 45% of gas imports to Europe during 2021
The European Commission announced, today, Tuesday, that “Russia provided about 45% of the European Union’s gas imports during 2021,” noting that “in recent years, this number averaged about 40%.”
“The other major gas suppliers are Norway with 23%, Algeria with 12%, the United States with 6% and Qatar with 5%,” the commission added in a statement.
According to the statement, the European Commission will propose filling the European Union’s gas reserves to at least 90% by next October, while it believes that the European Union can gradually reduce its dependence on fossil fuels from Russia before 2030.
Europe is looking for an alternative to Russian gas. “The European Union may stop using Russian gas within years, and it can start reducing its dependence on it within months,” said Frans Timmermans, the European Commission’s climate policy chief.
Earlier in the day, the European Commission announced that it would propose plans to diversify Europe’s supply of fossil fuels away from Russia, and shift more quickly to renewable energy.
The commission’s plan will seek to increase imports of gas and liquefied natural gas from other countries, and to gradually operate alternative gases such as hydrogen and bio-methane.
Other elements of the plan aim to build wind and solar projects faster, and to ensure countries fill gas reserves before winter to cushion supply shocks.
The International Energy Agency said Europe could cut its imports of Russian gas by more than half within a year, but doing so would require a suite of quick measures, from replacing gas boilers with heat pumps, to increasing imports of liquefied natural gas.
But countries are divided over whether to impose immediate sanctions on Russian energy supplies. Germany, the largest buyer of Russian crude oil, rejected the idea. Analysts said Europe would need to use emergency measures such as shutting down gas-intensive industries in order to completely halt Russian gas imports.
At the same time, figures indicate that European demand for Russian gas passing through Ukraine remains high despite the Russian operation, andThe day has reached its limit.