Gas security growing worry

HOUSTON:

Energy industry leaders said the burgeoning energy crisis is perhaps more dire for Europe’s natural gas market than its crude oil imports, due to the continent’s dependency on Russia and as prices have been sky-high for months. Panelists at this year’s CERAWeek conference in Houston have stressed increased need for secure energy supply. European gas markets have been in turmoil since last year as Russia slowed pipeline flows and as Asian demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG) surged, driving up prices across the globe. “There is just no additional LNG that’s coming online to bridge the gap for the gas that’s going to be needed by Europe next year - and it was cold in Asia, and Asia has no other alternative,” said Michael Smith, founder and chief executive of Freeport LNG. Russia is the world’s largest exporter of natural gas, shipping out roughly 23 billion cubic feet of gas every day (bcfd), of which about 90% goes to Europe or Eurasia. About half of that goes to Germany, Italy, France and Belarus.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 13^th, 2022.

Like Business on Facebook, follow @TribuneBiz on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.