Feb 21, 202
Russia has lowered its gas deliveries to Europe by more than 35% since the beginning of the year. More specifically, Europeans have curtailed their imports of Russian gas, according to Nezavisimaya Gazeta. This refusal of Russian supplies was made feasible by a rise in liquefied natural gas imports (LNG). In the near future, Europe will open new terminals, reducing the need for Russian gas even further. Under such conditions, the volume of Russian gas exports to the EU is likely to be cut in half.
Statements regarding the need to lessen the EU’s reliance on Russian gas are becoming more common throughout Europe. For example, during his speech at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki proposed shutting down the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline.
In the first half of February, Europe increased imports of liquefied natural gas by 80%, Ekaterina Kolbikova, a senior consultant at Vygon Consulting told the newspaper. “In the first half of February 2022, Europe imported 8 bln cubic meters of gas in the form of LNG, which is 80% more than in the same period last year,” she said.
The expert believes that by the end of the year, LNG imports to Europe may see a 12.5% increase (or 13 bln cubic meters of gas) to 120 bln cubic meters. For comparison, last year, Gazprom supplied over 185 bln cubic meters of gas to non-CIS countries.
At the same time, experts forecast that in the event of a further increase in gas prices or the outbreak of an armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which would lead to supply disruptions, generation from coal-fired power plants could rise by another 11% in 2022 to 641 TWh.
The international pricing agency Argus believes that in the coming years, the demand for coal in the countries of North-Western Europe will remain high.
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