Despite the policy of limiting energy imports from Russia, European Union countries significantly increased their purchases of liquefied natural gas from the Russian Yamal LNG project in the first quarter of the year.
According to the Financial Times, import volumes increased by 17% to 5 million tons compared with the same period last year. According to Urgewald, European countries spent about 2.88 billion euros on purchasing this gas.
The main reason for the increase in supplies is instability in the Middle East. Damage to infrastructure in the region and Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz have led to a sharp decrease in Middle Eastern gas supplies, which forced European countries to fill the gap at the expense of Russian sources.
It is noteworthy that in January-March, 97% of the Yamal LNG project’s total deliveries were directed to Europe. The EU has accepted 69 of the 71 project batches.
Despite the current indicators, Brussels does not intend to revise its strategic plan to abandon Russian liquefied gas. The European Union maintains the goal of completely banning Russian LPG by 2027, and restrictions on short-term contracts are already in place.
