US and EU strike LNG deal as Europe seeks to cut Russian gas

[President Johnson]

This is excellent news for the Transatlantic Alliance. Buying more American gas as long as we still need it not only reduces Russian profits, it's also good we support our American friends and help Joe Biden at home.

https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1507285814287515685

https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1507394378037223427

BRUSSELS/LONDON, March 25 (Reuters) - The United States will work to supply 15 billion cubic metres of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the European Union this year to help it wean off Russian energy supplies, the transatlantic partners said on Friday.

The EU is aiming to cut its dependency on Russian gas by two-thirds this year and end all Russian fossil fuel imports by 2027 due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Russia supplies around 40% of Europe's gas needs.

Concerns over security of supply were reinforced this week after Russia ordered the switch of gas contract payments to roubles, raising the risk of a supply squeeze and even higher prices.

[...]

[CumbrianLefty]

Yes, this sort of thing should be happening anyway.

[Sir Mohamed]

Without a doubt this is a good decision in the median run; though it should only serve as bridge to a future of renewable energies (including for us ourselves). Fracking is a very questionable method of drilling from an environmental standpoint, and shipping this across the Atlantic isn't climate friendly either.

That said, every penny that doesn't go into Putler's pocket is good. And good for Biden he can come with this. If Dems were smart, we'd sell this as major accomplishment. Also puts the ridiculous GOP talkingpoint "Dems want to end fossil fuels now at once" to rest.

[PSOL]

We don’t have that much in terms of supply, so Biden is burning our rainy day fund for little reason instead of improving our international relations. Great, just great.

[Cassius]

We don’t have that much in terms of supply, so Biden is burning our rainy day fund for little reason instead of improving our international relations. Great, just great.

It’s mostly windy wank anyway - the only country in Europe with significant spare capacity for LNG processing at the moment is Spain (I believe), which also has little in the way of pipeline linkage to the rest of Europe. Building the infrastructure to make additional American LNG a viable replacement for Russian gas will take years, by which point we’ll probably be back where we started in Ukraine anyway (Crimea in Russia and the Donbas under Russian influence but Ukraine still independent).

[ꙮ]

We don’t have that much in terms of supply, so Biden is burning our rainy day fund for little reason instead of improving our international relations. Great, just great.

This is improving our international relations.

[Storr]

Somewhat tangent to the LNG deals, I wonder if hydropower might gain interest in Europe again. I'm sure there's significant potential with the many mountain ranges and river systems on the continent. Obviously, I assume there's significant environmental resistance, like with nuclear energy.

[Torie]

Cancel your long haul vacation road trips. Use the train. Make a difference, one person at a time. And tolerate a bit more heat and cold, rather than total climate control. Industrial democracies must never be held hostage again.

[TiltsAreUnderrated]

Yes, this sort of thing should be happening anyway.

Should it? Higher gas prices translate into more investment in renewables and nuclear energy.

This is the best outcome for Ukraine in its fight against imperialism, but perhaps not for the world in its fight against climate change.

I hope this move was necessary to shift European policy towards support of Ukraine.

[Cassius]

Cancel your long haul vacation road trips. Use the train. Make a difference, one person at a time. And tolerate a bit more heat and cold, rather than total climate control. Industrial democracies must never be held hostage again.

Odd hostage situation where the hostages are able to cancel most of the hostage taker’s credit cards.

[Frodo]

And there is enough natural gas reserves in the United States to last a century, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on the latest data.  We are not going to run out anytime soon:

https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=58&t=8  

https://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/crudeoilreserves/

[President Johnson]

We don’t have that much in terms of supply, so Biden is burning our rainy day fund for little reason instead of improving our international relations. Great, just great.

It’s mostly windy wank anyway - the only country in Europe with significant spare capacity for LNG processing at the moment is Spain (I believe), which also has little in the way of pipeline linkage to the rest of Europe. Building the infrastructure to make additional American LNG a viable replacement for Russian gas will take years, by which point we’ll probably be back where we started in Ukraine anyway (Crimea in Russia and the Donbas under Russian influence but Ukraine still independent).

The Netherlands also have LNG terminals while Germany doesn't have at this point. However, Chancellor Scholz announced that the federal government would build two of them within a few years since we also signed new deals with Quatar.

[CumbrianLefty]

Yes, this sort of thing should be happening anyway.

Should it? Higher gas prices translate into more investment in renewables and nuclear energy.

This is the best outcome for Ukraine in its fight against imperialism, but perhaps not for the world in its fight against climate change.

I hope this move was necessary to shift European policy towards support of Ukraine.

Sudden and massive increases in fuel prices are not going to help in the fight against climate change, though. Already we can see right wing grifters rubbishing Net Zero and again pushing fracking.

[Sbane]

We don’t have that much in terms of supply, so Biden is burning our rainy day fund for little reason instead of improving our international relations. Great, just great.

What an ignorant statement. Currently natural gas is just flared off since there is too much supply and not enough demand in the US. If that could be liquified and sent all over the globe, it helps the US and also the countries in the world that don't want to rely on countries like Russia or Saudi Arabia to supply their gas.

At the same time we can continue to develop technologies to get off fossil fuels completely. It is possible to chew gum and walk at the same time.