U.S. LNG Cannot Replace The Russian Natural Gas That Europe Has Lost

A liquefied natural gas (LNG) tanker in the Sea of Japan near Nakhodka, Russia. Vladimir Serebryanskiy/Dreamstime  

OilPrice.com: U.S. LNG Cannot Replace The Russian Natural Gas That Europe Has Lost 

* Europe has relied on U.S. LNG imports to offset the loss of Russian gas, with nearly 70% of U.S. LNG exports heading to Europe in September. 

* In the long term, Europe will have to find other sources of natural gas as its inventories are likely to drain over the upcoming winter. 

* Ultimately, Europe will have to reduce demand for natural gas going forward as there is very little available supply left. 

Europe cannot rely solely on imports of U.S. LNG to offset the pipeline gas supply it will have lost from Russia when it starts rebuilding inventories after the end of this winter, according to BloombergNEF. 

So far this year, American LNG has been crucial in meeting demand in Europe, which is scrambling for gas supply and willing to pay up for spot deliveries, outbidding most of Asia.

The United States is shipping record volumes of LNG to Europe to help EU allies and nearly 70% of all American LNG exports were headed to Europe in September, according to Refinitiv Eikon data cited by Reuters.  

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Update: Europe Can’t Rely on US Gas to Plug Growing Shortfall Next Year (Bloomberg)  

WNU Editor: I am sure the EU is going to be able to get the natural gas that it needs this winter. But it is not going to be cheap, nor reliable. And the bigger problem will be next year, since Russian gas will no longer be available to fill up their reserves unless purchased through middle-men like Turkey or China at exoborant prices. 

And that is the crux of the problem. 

Europe's industrial base is dependent on having access to cheap natural gas. No more now.