Various-Gas Supply/EU

Shotlist

FILE: Brussels, Belgium – March 8, 2022 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
1. Berlaymont building, EU flags

FILE: Brussels, Belgium – May 16, 2022 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
2. Various of headquarters of European Commission, flags of European Union

FILE: Washington D.C., USA – May 12, 2020 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
3. White House

FILE: Houston, Texas, USA – 2018 (CGTN – No access Chinese mainland)
4. Various of LNG plant, facilities

FILE: Moscow, Russia – May 9, 2018 (CGTN – No access Chinese mainland)
5. Various of boat sailing on river, Grand Kremlin Palace, traffic

FILE: Sabetta, Yamal Peninsula, Russia – Aug 9, 2018 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
6. Various of workers, facilities at gas field, gas flare burning
7. Various of facilities at gas field, truck

FILE: Berlin, Germany – March 16, 2022 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
8. Reichstag building, national flags of Germany, flag of European Union

FILE: Germany – Date Unknown (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
9. Various of Nord Stream 2 pipeline construction site, constructors

FILE: Frankfurt City, Germany – March 30, 2013 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
10. Various of heating radiators

FILE: Berlin, Germany – Sept 19, 2021 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
11. River, buildings, traffic
12. National flag of Germany

Storyline

European Union (EU) countries in June imported more liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States than pipeline gas from Russia for the first time in history, according to data released by the International Energy Agency (IEA) on Thursday.

Russia slashed gas deliveries to Europe via the Nord Stream pipeline in June in response to western sanctions over the conflict with Ukraine. Russia also said it would suspend gas supplies to Germany in mid-July for planned maintenance work. In addition, it shut off the supply of natural gas to Finland, Poland and Bulgaria.

In March, the EU decided to import an additional 15 billion cubic meters of LNG from the U.S. to reduce Russian gas imports, adding that it will replace Russian gas imports with LNG from various sources.

Russia sends about 150 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe each year, as well as 14-18 billion cubic meters of LNG, which accounts for over 40 percent of Europe’s needs.

After the implementation of a series of sanctions on Russia including energy, many European countries that used to import Russian energy have encountered energy shortages.

Germany’s government has stepped up efforts to replace Russian energy in order to make the country more independent from Russian imports.

Russian energy giant Gazprom in June significantly reduced supplies via the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany by 60 percent due to what the company said were technical reasons, triggering the second stage of Germany’s national gas emergency plan.

Fearing Russia might cut off natural gas supplies, Federal Network Agency President Klaus Mueller called on residents Saturday to save energy and to prepare for winter, when use increases.

In order to get rid of its reliance on Russian gas imports, Germany is speeding up the construction of related facilities to import LNG from other countries.

Germany and Canada have been discussing options for an LNG terminal on Canada’s east coast to export to Europe on the sidelines of the G7 summit, German officials said on Tuesday.

Germany has leased four floating LNG terminals and will start operation of two temporary terminals for the import of LNG as soon as the end of this year, Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, some cities are already considering what to do if supplies are cut off.

The German city of Hamburg will ration hot water for private households and limit the maximum heating temperature in the event of a severe gas shortage, city officials said as Germany braces for possible outages of Russian gas imports.