BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 13. The US is expected to play a critical role in tackling the energy crisis in Europe with replacing Russia’s gas imports with liquefied natural gas (LNG), in both the short term and as new export capacity comes on stream in the future, Ed Crooks, Vice-Chair at Wood Mackenzie, a global research and consultancy group, said, Trend reports via WoodMac.
According to the forecast, at least another 100 million tons per year of LNG will be supplied on the global market by 2024, which will mainly come from the US Gulf Coast.
“There has already been 28 million tons per year of new LNG export capacity given final investment decision worldwide so far this year, almost all of it in the US,” he noted.
As Crooks noted, it is rather clear that Europe needs restrain its gas demand by investing more in renewable and clean technologies, at the same time finding alternative suppliers of both gas and LNG.
“The details, however, are more difficult. There are still significant disagreements over the extent to which the urgent need to bring more gas into Europe should override other policy priorities, such as maintaining competitive markets or limiting emissions. And there is a fundamental tension at the heart of Europe’s strategy that is not easy to resolve: governments want the industry to increase supplies of fossil fuels in the short term, while maintaining a commitment to reduce demand for those fuels in the medium to long term to meet their climate goals,” the expert explained.
Nevertheless, as weather gets colder, and Russia’s supplies are still halted, “the worst of the crisis is still ahead of us,” the expert said.
“If Russian supplies remain disrupted, and the weather is cold, Europeans could face a very difficult winter, with the prospect of more to come until flows are resumed or alternative sources are on stream. By March, the political calculus for European countries and their allies, including the US, could look very different. Any actions that might obstruct the flow of gas into Europe will be much harder to support,” Crooks noted.
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