Data shows that Europe bought record amounts of liquefied natural gas from Russia last year, despite the bloc’s efforts to phase out fossil fuels from President Vladimir Putin’s war chest.
According to analyst Rystad Energy, 17.8 million tonnes of vessels carrying Russian cryogenic gas will enter European ports in 2024, an increase of more than 2 million tonnes from the previous year.
Rystad Energy gas analyst Jan-Erik Fehnrich said LNG flows were not only increasing but at “record levels”.
Europe has cut its huge imports of Russian gas delivered by pipeline since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, but has increased its purchases of LNG shipments from many countries, including Russia. Last year, it overtook Qatar to become Europe’s second-largest LNG supplier after the United States.
In 2024, Europe will bring in 49.5 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Russian gas through pipelines and a further 24.2 billion cubic meters (bcm) in the form of cold liquid by ship, Fehnrich said. Some of the LNG will be resold to other countries, he added.
The figures were revealed days after Ukraine cut off Russian gas supplies through the pipeline, ending a Soviet-era energy route that survived three years of all-out war between the neighbors.
Campaigners say the EU is undermining support for Ukraine and its own climate change goals by continuing to pay Russia for fuel that spews out planet-warming particles when burned. Since the war, the EU has reduced energy demand and eased rules on building wind turbines and solar panels, but has not cleaned up its economy as quickly as needed to prevent global temperatures from rising 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Celsius). Scientists say it’s not. End of the century.
Data from the Energy and Clean Air Research Center (Crea), which differs slightly from Rystad’s figures, shows that EU imports of Russian LNG reached €7.32 billion in 2024. According to it, the volume increased by 14% compared to the previous year. Import volume reached 17.5 million tons.
“The reason for the rise is quite simple,” said Vaibhav Raghunandan, Russia analyst at Clare. “Russian LNG is being offered at discounted prices to alternative suppliers…With no sanctions imposed on the product, companies operating in their own interests are buying ever-increasing quantities of gas from the cheapest suppliers. are purchasing.”
The EU aims to end imports of Russian fossil fuels by 2027, but is reluctant to ban gas as well as coal and oil. In June, member states agreed to ban the “transshipment” of Russian LNG to non-EU countries from March 2025. The recent increase in Russian LNG imports may have been fueled by efforts to increase shipments before sanctions were imposed, Fehnrich said. .
Ukrainian activists argue that the sanctions regime is undermined by “obvious loopholes” that allow Russia to still fund its war machine with fossil fuel revenues.
“Russia’s record level of LNG imports in 2024 is a stark reminder that the EU must take decisive action to close remaining loopholes in the sanctions regime.” said Svitlana Romanko, founder of climate change campaign group Razom We Stand. “With sanctions packages now up to 15, a complete ban on LNG imports from Russia is urgently needed to stop funding Putin’s military.”
He also cracked down on Russia’s “shadow fleet” of aging and poorly insured Russian tankers, and cracked down on refining loopholes that allow Europe to import products made from Russian crude in places like Turkey and India. asked the EU to block the
A report by Romanko and colleagues found last month that tougher sanctions could reduce greenhouse gas pollution associated with Russia’s upstream oil and gas by 25% by 2030. End-use emissions could be reduced by 300 million tonnes per year if renewable energy replaced dirty fuels, the report said.
“The EU has a choice,” Romanco said. “Either we continue to fund war and pollution, or we commit to a clean, safe and peaceful energy future.”
