Liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments to Europe late last year showed that Russia could not use gas as a powerful lever against Europe, and the shortage of natural gas intensified efforts to build more liquefied natural gas storage facilities. gas in Europe, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said today.
Lipavsky told Reuters in an interview that the diversion of LNG cargo to Europe following the rise in prices late last year amid lower supplies from Russia showed that there were alternatives to Russian gas and backed the investment venture. in infrastructure.
“I like to say that (Russian President) Vladimir Putin made a wonderful Christmas present in Europe because he proved that we are not dependent on Russian gas,” said the Czech Foreign Minister.
“I’m not saying we can only depend on LNG, but this is a very good example that Russia can not afford to use gas as a key economic lever, because if Europe builds enough mechanisms, terminals, it will diversify its its energy security “.
The besieged Czech Republic consumes about 8.7 billion cubic meters of gas a year, most of which comes from Russia through Germany.
Lipavsky, whose ministry has a special envoy for energy security, said the Czech government was aiming to gain access to an LNG terminal in a neighboring country.
However, he acknowledged that such a plan would take time. The nearest existing or potential terminals are located in Poland and Germany.
“Such a project is clearly in the interest of the security of the Czech Republic and therefore the ministry fully supports it,” he said.
He did not specify what form the Czech Republic’s participation would take.
The West accuses Moscow of withholding gas to help raise prices and pressure EU and German regulators to approve a new Nord Stream 2 connection that would double Moscow’s export capacity via the Baltic Sea.
Russia denies the allegations and Gazprom says it is fulfilling all its long-term contracts.
The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, said last month that Russia had contributed to insufficient gas supplies to Europe amid a Moscow-West confrontation over Ukraine.
Russia supplies about 40% of the EU’s gas. The potential impact on this supply if Russia invades Ukraine has prompted the EU to seek to increase gas supplies from other countries.
SOURCE: AMPE
Source: Capital
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