The United States is more than doubling its target to ensure the delivery of an additional 15 billion cubic meters (bcm) of LNG to the EU by 2022, a joint US-EU statement has revealed.
Last year, US exports to the EU were 56 bcm, up from 22 bcm in 2021, according to the statement, which noted that the EU was the largest destination for US LNG exports, representing more than 52 percent of supplies. By the end of 2022, Russian gas accounted for 16 percent of EU gas imports, down from 37 percent in March 2022, the statement noted.
“One year ago this week, the United States and the European Union created a joint US-EU working group on energy security launched by President Biden and President von der Leyen,” the joint statement noted.
“The working group has made great progress in achieving its goals of reducing the EU’s dependence on Russian energy, including by diversifying its natural gas supply in line with its climate goals and reducing the its global demand for natural gas,” the statement added.
“The US-EU Energy Security Working Group builds on long-standing transatlantic cooperation under the US-EU Energy Council and is the result of a joint commitment to reduce the EU’s dependence on Russian energy and accelerate the global transition to clean energy.” he continued.
The joint statement said the working group provides an important platform for a regular exchange of information between the US and the European Commission and stressed that it monitors the energy security situation in the EU and neighboring countries, as well as the progress in reducing dependence on fossil fuels. .
“The working group has discussed global LNG markets and market projections, the regulatory environment and permitting outlook in the US and the EU, the development of US LNG export capabilities, the strengthening of the EU LNG infrastructure and the EU Energy Platform and the joint purchase,” the joint statement said.
“Furthermore, the working group has helped to identify solutions to address emergency energy security objectives in the EU to ensure adequate levels of gas storage ahead of the winter seasons,” he added.
next steps
During this year, the task force will continue to focus on energy market shocks and high energy prices, according to the statement, which outlined three of the group’s priorities in 2023. These included the “assessments continued LNG markets and ensure US LNG deliveries to Europe of 50 bcm by 2023″, the “reduction of methane emissions” and “energy saving and efficiency measures”.
“In the coming months, the working group will continue to work to maintain a high level of US LNG supply to Europe in 2023 of at least 50 bcm. This is necessary given the difficult supply situation and the need to ensure the ‘filling the storage for the next winter 2023-24,’ the statement said.
“The EU Energy Platform will launch its first joint tenders under Aggregate EU, a new means of demand aggregation and joint purchasing, in May 2023. These tenders will be open to all non-Russian gas sellers . The task force has facilitated engagement with the US LNG industry on the EU Energy Platform and its upcoming implementation to attract US LNG to Europe,” he added.
According to the statement, the working group will also help implement US and EU efforts to reduce methane emissions, both in bilateral trade and globally, by supporting national and international measures to promote greater monitoring , reporting and verification, as well as transparency, for methane emissions data in the fossil fuel sector.
“As discussed at the November 2022 working group meeting, both sides also plan to undertake initiatives to reduce twisting, venting and leakage in the oil and gas value chains, including through innovative procurement frameworks to incentivize the capture of this gas to bring it to market, like the EU’s proposed ‘you collect, we buy’ approach, the statement said.
The statement also notes that the working group will facilitate the exchange of best practices on energy saving and energy efficiency schemes and organize a dedicated conversation around implemented and planned policies for demand response by member states of the EU
“These measures will build on Europe’s impressive success in reducing its energy use as a means of improving its energy security,” the statement said.
“Europe has demonstrated remarkable progress in completing large-scale clean energy infrastructure projects on an accelerated schedule to respond to the energy crisis, and the working group will explore opportunities to share best practices to ensure rapid and continued deployment of large-scale clean energy technologies across the EU,” he added.
Constitution of the working group
In a joint statement on 25 March 2022, the US and the EU announced that they would immediately establish a joint working group on energy security, adding that it would be chaired by a representative of the White House and a representative of the President of the EU commission
That statement highlighted that the group would focus on a number of issues, including additional LNG volumes for the EU market of at least 15 bcm by 2022, “with increases expected in the future”. Other focus issues outlined in the statement included efforts to reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of all new LNG infrastructure and associated pipelines, partnering on energy efficiency technologies and solutions, and accelerating planning and ‘approval of renewable energy projects.
“The United States and the European Commission are committed to reducing Europe’s dependence on Russian energy,” said the joint statement last year.
“We reaffirm our joint commitment to Europe’s energy security and sustainability and to accelerating the global transition to clean energy. Condemning in the strongest terms Russia’s new invasion of Ukraine, we express our solidarity and support for Ukraine,” he added.
“We share the goal of addressing the energy security emergency: securing energy supplies for the EU and Ukraine. We welcome continued progress towards Ukraine’s physical integration with EU energy markets” , the statement continues.
Dynamic and comprehensive relationship
In a joint US-EU statement released last month, both sides said they share “the most comprehensive and dynamic economic relationship in the world” and announced they are taking “new steps to deepen our economic relationship as we build the clean energy economies of the future and address shared economic and national security challenges”.
In this statement, the US and EU said they are committed to addressing the climate crisis, accelerating the global clean energy economy and building resilient, secure and diversified clean energy supply chains. They also noted that they are working to strengthen, through transatlantic cooperation, their essential security interests and the resilience of their economies.
“We affirm that our cooperation to strengthen our economic security and national security must be rooted in the maintenance of the rules-based system,” they said in the statement.
“We will continue our work through the US-EU Trade and Technology Council and the G7 and strengthen our bilateral coordination by tasking our Sherpas with making key recommendations on economic security before the summer,” they added.
“We will continue to work to strengthen our economic security, responding to the specific threats we have identified. The United States and the European Union share concerns about the challenges posed by, among other issues, economic coercion, the weaponization of economic dependencies and non-market policies and practices,” they continued.
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