At the end of 2022, European Union (EU) countries bought the largest volume of liquefied natural gas (LNG), ahead of the largest consumers in Asia, including Japan, China and South Korea. European countries purchased 101 million tons of fuel in the last 12 months, increasing their imports by 58% compared to 2021, informs The Financial Times cites the Refinitiv agency’s statistics.
“Against the sharp decline in Russian pipeline gas supply, EU countries increased their purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by 58% in 2022 to 101 million tons. This has allowed the EU to become the largest buyer of this type of fuel, beating the former leaders – China, Japan and South Korea.
At the end of 2022, the EU’s share in global LNG imports was 24%, Japan – 17%, China – 15% and South Korea – 11%. The volume of LNG purchased by European countries last year was equivalent to 137 billion cubic meters of natural gas. This figure is comparable to the volume of Russian fuel supply to the region in 2021 (about 140 billion cubic meters). However, due to international sanctions, Moscow sharply reduced gas exports to the EU – according to the article, in 2022 the volume of supply reached about 60 billion cubic meters.
December 11 Bloomberg reportedAfter the “ceiling” of gas prices from Russia, some European countries began to look for other sources of supply, and some called for a reduction in the marginal cost of fuel to minimize the impact of the energy crisis. While the agency classified “a 12-nation group” among the latter, it did not specify which states were discussed.
Source: Gazeta
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