French Imports of Russian Gas See Significant Surge

In the first half of this year, shipments of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) to France more than doubled, according to a recent analysis of trade data. This increase comes as Europe tries to reduce its energy purchases from Russia, which helps finance the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine.

While European countries are gradually cutting the purchases of Russian oil, natural gas is not involved. For instance, French companies have tremendously increased on the imports they Cone. An analysis that has been conducted recently shows that overall EU countries have imported 7 percent more Russian LNG in the first half of this year than in the similar period of the previous year. This LNG, natural gas that is converted to liquid form to facilitate shipment continues to pour into the continent, even when countries are trying to wean themselves off Russian energy imports.

Oleksiy Savytskyi, a primary member, and the coordinator of the Ukraine-based nonprofit organization called Razom We Stand made indications about the EU’s pace they set for the complete elimination of Russian fossil fuel imports by 2022. He gagged the hike in the import of LNG as “appallingly off track. ” He further accused the countries importing Russian LNG of stifering Europe’s energy transition and funding billions to Russia’s war.

European Gas Import Justification

European leaders have supported the rationale of going ahead and importing Russian’s natural gas as they asserted that excluding Russia would severely increase the cost of energy and heating expenses. Industrial consumers/ users of gas would also be hard hit due to the following elements.

The research was carried out by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis an American-based non-profit think tank for sustainable energy. Cross-referencing with a shipping tracking service Kpler and data on commodities provided by ICIS both contributed to the IEEFA estimations.

Thus, in the first half of this year, the supplies of Russian LNG to France increased almost twice and reached nearly 4. To natural gas, compared with the same period of last year: 4 billion cubic meters for foreign markets, 2 million 200 thousand for domestic ones. This rise is particularly observed at a time when Europe is striving to wean itself off Russian energy supplies because of the latter’s invasion of Ukraine. Spain and Belgium which are the other significant importers recorded a relatively moderate increase of 1% and a drop in the import ratio by 16%.

These imports are equally attributed to TotalEnergies which is a French based company in the energy industry. The company has opined that it has signed contracts prior to the conflict that mandated it to import more of the products. Also, the Houthi rebels have targeted the Suez Canal attacking ships; thus, delaying the LNG transport originating from the Middle East makes the Russian gas from the Arctic more viable.

In this regard, France has seen the amount of its imports from other suppliers such as the US, Angola and Nigeria fall to nearly the same level as the rise in Russian gas, foregoing other forms of supply. Specific data regarding Russian LNG is not available to the public but they are normally offered at a discount because buyers run away from them.

This extra Russian LNG is not directly consumed in France where demand in the first half of this year declined by 9 percent. At the same time exports of gas to Belgium went up by almost 10%. However this raise a question of how much of this export was involved Russian LNG.

In the Arctic region yamal in Russia which is the largest LNG project, TotalEnergies operates and according to the contract signed in 2018; the company must buy 4 million tons of gas per year. TotalEnergies said it will remain meeting these contracts provided Russian gas is considered essential for the EU’s energy needs, with suspension allowed under fresh sanctions.

Speaking about the reduction of Russian gas imports to the EU, an EU Commission spokesperson pointed out that there is 26% less gas imported from Russia in 2023 compared to 2021, but a temporary rise does not negate the EU performance. Naturally, Oleh Savytskyi, the activist of the Razom We Stand association disagreed with this attitude and urged to impose a complete ban on the import of Russian gas to the EU.