The European Union will look to import more LNG from the United States and other countries and accelerate the rollout of renewable energy as it seeks to replace the Russian gas supply and cut its gas dependence, European Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen told Reuters.
“Instead of using taxpayers' money, citizens' money, to pay for gas where the revenue goes into Putin's war chest, we need to make sure that we produce our own energy,” Jørgensen said in a joint media interview.
To reduce the overall reliance on fossil fuels the EU plans to adopt legislation to ease permitting rules that would speed up faster deployment of solar and wind power capacity, the Commissioner added.
The EU will aim to meet its gas demand from sources other than Russia, the commissioner said.
“There will still be the need for gas, and there we will have to find other sources than Russia, and that can also mean bigger import from the U.S,” Jørgensen told Reuters.
Increased purchases of U.S. LNG could also help the EU avoid potential tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump.
Last month, President Trump urged the EU, again, to buy more American oil and gas to avoid tariffs.
That was the second time President Trump has urged Europe to buy more American energy, after threatening “TARIFFS all the way!!!”” in December.
The EU could weigh investing in LNG projects outside the bloc to ensure supplies, Reuters reported earlier this week, citing a draft document of the European Commission it had seen.
The potential investment in LNG projects abroad would be part of an EU plan to lower the high energy prices that have been burdening households and reducing Europe’s industrial competitiveness since the 2022 energy crisis.
The Commission looks to “immediately engage with reliable LNG suppliers to identify additional cost competitive imports from existing and future LNG export projects,” according to the draft seen by Reuters.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
