Expert says Europe cannot survive 2022 without Russian gas

MOSCOW, May 29 , (ST)- Sergey Kolobanov, Deputy Head of the Central Strategic Research Department of Fuel and Energy Complex Economy, said that Europe will certainly not survive until winter without Russian gas, since it will not be possible to quickly replace the supply from Russia with additional volumes of liquefied natural gas. The center made a comment to RIA Novosti.

 

“Europe will certainly not be able to live without Russian gas in 2022 and in the winter of 2023: it will not be possible to replace demand with LNG so quickly (even if we do not take into account that there is not a lot of “free” LNG in the world),” he believes.

 

The agency’s interlocutor noted that only the execution of lease agreements, delivery, installation and connection to the gas transport systems of floating regasification terminals will take at least six months.

 

According to the expert’s forecast, Europeans can be expected to reduce Russian pipeline gas consumption by about 30 billion cubic meters in 2022. He adds that the last four months have seen a decrease in pumping from Russia to Europe and an increase in supplies from other countries, meaning that rebalancing has begun. But Kolobanov came to the conclusion that it will be possible to talk about its completion before 2024-2025.

 

The European Commission developed the REPowerEU plan after the start of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. He predicts that Russia’s gas imports will decrease by two-thirds – that is, about 100 billion cubic meters – by the end of the year.

 

Source: Agencies