Russia overtakes US in gas supplies to Europe for first time in 2 years

Russia overtakes US in gas supplies to Europe (photo: Getty Images)

In May, for the first time since 2022, Russia overtook the United States in terms of gas supplies to Europe, reports Financial Times.

In May 2024, supplies of Russian gas and LNG through pipelines accounted for 15% of total supplies to the EU and other European countries. While the volume of supplies from the United States amounted to 14%.

The United States has been the largest gas supplier to Europe since 2022, overtaking Russia after European countries began to refuse Russian gas due to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

As the FT explains, the growth in Russian gas supplies was influenced, in particular, by disruptions at a major LNG export facility in the United States. At this time, Russia managed to supply more gas to Europe via Turkey before the pipeline was scheduled to be repaired in June.

However, as one of the experts the FT spoke to noted, this advantage is unlikely to last. In the summer, Russia will be able to switch its exports to Asia via the Northern Sea Route. This, according to the expert, will reduce the volume of Russian supplies to Europe, while US LNG production is growing again.

The European Union wants to impose sanctions on Russian LNG. However, due to Germany's position, the decision on the new EU sanctions package is being delayed.

Recently, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz explained why Berlin is delaying the decision on new sanctions against Russia.