US confirms increase to EU’s supplies of liquefied natural gas

The US aims to deliver at least 15bn cubic metres of additional liquefied natural gas to the EU market this year in conjunction with other suppliers around the world, as Washington and Brussels work to boost their efforts to limit dependence on Russian energy.

The pledge was made as US president Joe Biden met Ursula von der Leyen, the EU Commission president, on Friday morning in Brussels on the second full day of his trip to Europe to rally allies to remain united in the face of the war on Ukraine.

The commitment by the US, which confirms a report by the Financial Times on Thursday, did not specify how much of the additional volumes of LNG would be coming directly from America or from other countries, highlighting the difficulty of rapidly ramping up capacity and diverting contracts in the energy market.

However, the US said it expected further increases above the 15bn cubic metres target in the future, according to a fact sheet released by the White House.

The arrangement includes an EU pledge to secure demand for around 50bn cubic metres a year of additional LNG from the US, while remaining consistent with carbon reduction goals, and on the understanding that prices should reflect long-term market fundamentals.

“The United States and the European Commission will undertake efforts to reduce the greenhouse gas intensity of all new LNG infrastructure and associated pipelines, including through using clean energy to power on-site operations, reducing methane leakage, and building clean and renewable hydrogen-ready infrastructure,” the White House said.