U.S. President Joe Biden and EU Council President Charles Michel shake hands during a summit of European Union leaders amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine March 24, 2022 in Brussels, Belgium. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
BRUSSELS – European Union leaders on Friday backed plans to buy gas together and won a pledge from the United States to supply more LNG to Ukraine.
“We are coming together to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russia’s energy,” US President Joe Biden told reporters in Brussels while announcing the liquefied natural gas (LNG) deal. “We shouldn’t subsidize Putin’s brutal attack on Ukraine.”
But as the second day of an EU summit began, it was clear that bloc leaders were still at odds over whether to ban Russian oil and gas imports and over proposals by Spain and others to cap energy prices for consumers.
Regarding the LNG deal, analysts say there is no replacement gas around the world, meaning it’s unclear where those extra supplies could come from.
The invasion of Europe’s top gas supplier has pushed already high energy prices to record highs, prompting the EU to pledge to cut Russia’s gas consumption by two-thirds this year by increasing imports from other countries and promoting renewable energy.
“The energy bill is insanely high… and that bill needs to be reduced and we can do that as European countries if we work together,” Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told reporters.
“That means buying gas together … and putting on a kind of handbrake to have a price cap if prices are too high.”
Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa said all countries support joint gas purchases to tame prices.
“There is a solution,” he said upon arrival at the summit. “It’s joint European purchasing, joint logistics, joint construction of gas storage capacities.”
The European Commission said on Wednesday it was ready to hold negotiations to pool demand and scout for gas ahead of next winter, under a similar model that saw the bloc buying COVID-19 vaccines on behalf of member states. Continue reading
Russia supplies 40% of the EU’s gas needs and more than a quarter of its oil imports.
EMBARGO?
This reliance on energy from Russia means the question of whether to impose an embargo, as the United States has done, is much more difficult – and divisive – in Europe, and no decision was expected on Friday.
Those most dependent on this supply are reluctant to take a step that would have a major economic impact.
Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said Germany, Hungary and Austria were among the most reluctant to impose a ban on oil and gas imports from Russia.
A group that includes Germany and the Netherlands is expected to push back price cap proposals, diplomats said.
The United States will work to ship 15 billion cubic meters (bcm) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to EU markets this year as part of the new deal announced on Friday, the transatlantic partners said. Continue reading
European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said it was a “big step” in reducing the bloc’s energy dependency on Russia.
However, with US plants already producing LNG at full capacity, analysts said most of the extra gas going to Europe would have to come from exports that would have gone to other parts of the world.
The longer-term goal would be to secure about 50 billion cubic meters of additional US LNG per year by at least 2030, von der Leyen and Biden said. Continue reading
Reporting by John Irish, Sabine Siebold, Jan Strupczewski, John Chalmers, Benoit Van Overstraeten; writing by Ingrid Melander; Adaptation by John Chalmers