Head of the European Union (EU) competition agency Teresa Ribera warned against being too dependent on imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US as the bloc seeks to diversify energy sources.
We know that we cannot rely on Russian gas and we should pay attention not to rely too much on US gas" - Ms. Teresa Ribera told RTE radio on January 27.
After the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out, Europe replaced part of Russian gas with US LNG and is under pressure to increase purchases. The trade agreement between the US and EU last year included a commitment for the EU to buy 750 billion USD of US energy by 2028.
Ms. Ribera's comments were made in the context that US President Donald Trump's stance on Greenland is putting Europe in a tense state.
Although Mr. Trump has declared that he will not use force to occupy Greenland, his framework agreement with NATO includes the deployment of US missiles and mining rights.
According to Bloomberg, this agreement also depends on the US leader's commitment not to impose taxes on European countries.
Last year, the EU agreed to accelerate the process of escaping Russian gas. Energy companies have closely monitored the bloc's strategy in finding alternative energy sources and accelerating the deployment of renewable energy with the goal of reducing emissions to 0 by 2050.
If Europe fully implements the GNL supply agreements from the US and the bloc's efforts to reduce gas demand do not achieve the target, then by 2030, 80% of EU gas imports may come from the US, up from 57% in 2025, according to a report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEE).
The EU still receives about 15% of LNG supply from Moscow, making Russia the second largest fuel supplier to Europe after the US.
Michael Lewis - CEO of German energy company Uniper - pointed out that as more and more US LNG facilities go into operation, "in the next 3 years the market will receive a large amount of gas from the US".
However, according to him, "Germany will never repeat the mistakes of the past. We will never depend on the US as much as we used to depend on Russia.
Despite the current tensions, some experts believe that there is little risk that the US will restrict gas exports to Europe, because the US does not export LNG to China and only has a few other major customers globally.
The idea that the US may stop exporting to Europe seems quite dangerous. US LNG needs Europe in the current geopolitical context" - Anne-Sophie Corbeau, a global research scholar at the Center for Global Energy Policy, commented.
