Swinoujscie LNG terminalMOSCOW, 26 Jan. The US plans to weaken Russia's position in the European energy market with the help of LNG are a «utopia», writes Dong Yifan, a researcher at the Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Contemporary International Relations, in an article for Huanqiu Shibao. According to the author, the Joe Biden administration, according to US media reports, is discussing with Qatar and other Middle Eastern countries an increase in the supply of liquefied natural gas to Europe in order to «eliminate dependence» of the continent on Russian «blue fuel». .jpg» />Media: The State Department was told that there are almost no alternatives to Russian gas. This is not the first time that Washington has begun a «strategic capture of allies», contributing to the «separation» of European and Russian energy, he recalls. Thus, during the Cold War, the United States prevented energy cooperation between European countries and the USSR. «This time, the United States hopes to «small measures» to interfere with energy cooperation between the EU and Russia, «acting as a bridge» between its allies. However, given the objective conditions of the gas industry, It will be very difficult for America to control Russia with gas,» Yifan points out. According to him, gas transportation should be based on the appropriate infrastructure, while interregional transportation is expensive and fraught with numerous technical problems. At the same time, due to the cost of compressing LNG, it is difficult to achieve the same price and supply levels as pipeline gas, so it can only play an additional role, the author believes. Growing demand in East Asia has pushed the region to become a major force in global consumption LNG, it also includes more «Asian natural gas surcharges» than European and American consumers, the researcher writes. European countries have also significantly increased LNG imports, but compared to Russian pipeline gas, it is still unprofitable, he notes. Thus, the transition of Qatar's natural gas market «from Asia to Europe» means that European countries must provide Qatar with more favorable price terms, than Asia. At the same time, Qatari infrastructure and efforts to stabilize the supply chain will take several years, and the corresponding costs will be included in the price of gas supplies, which will further weaken its competitiveness in relation to raw materials from Russia. «Therefore, the use of LNG to weaken or even shift the positions of Gazprom «in the European energy market, as well as to achieve a long-term goal — containing Moscow and trying to divide Russia and Europe — is nothing but a utopia,» Yifan emphasizes. According to him, the US actions represent political interference in market affairs to please its geopolitical objectives, which seriously affects the future expectations of producers, consumers and investors in the energy sector. «This is not only useless for solving the problem of limited supply in the global energy market, but, on the contrary, will add even more uncertainty to the market and supply potential,» — the author concludes.Read the full text of the article at InoSMI> >
Gazprom increased gas transit through Ukraine to Europe
