71 percent goes to the EU – US: are now the largest exporter of liquefied gas

The American authority relied on data from the non-governmental organization Cedigaz. With liquefied gas from the US, the EU wants to free itself from its dependence on the Russian gas supply. In late March, US President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signed a deal that provides for the additional purchase of 15 billion cubic meters of LNG for this year alone. In June, the EU imported more gas from the US than from Russia for the first time.

Freed from gas dependence on Russia
In this way, European states are breaking away from their gas dependence on Russia, which has been criticized for years, in an accelerated procedure and at enormous cost. Even after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2014, Germany and Austria continued to buy Russian gas and even invest in pipeline construction rather than finding other suppliers.

Then-Chancellor Sebastian Kurz (ÖVP) defended the highly controversial German-Russian “Nord Stream 2” pipeline project at a White House reception in February 2019, citing Austria’s need for “security of supply”.

“Non-competitive” price
In principle, it is open to supplies of US liquefied gas, but the price for it is “uncompetitive at the moment,” Kurz said after meeting with then US President Donald Trump. “In that regard, the gas from Austria will mainly continue to come from Russia.”