Latest news with #RussianGas
Reuters
22-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Italy fully supports EU efforts to stop Russian gas imports by 2027
ROME, May 22 (Reuters) - Italy fully supports European Union efforts to stop Russian gas imports into the bloc by 2027, the country's energy minister told reporters on Thursday, adding any decisions by Rome to boost LNG imports from the U.S. were up to private buyers. Italy last year imported a small quantity of Russian gas which was mainly exported to Austria, the minister said, adding that the country was now independent from supplies coming from Moscow. "Italy fully supports the effort," Pichetto Fratin told a news conference in Rome, speaking alongside Teresa Ribera, the European Union's competition commissioner. The EU said this month it would propose legal measures to phase out imports of Russian gas and LNG by the end of 2027, ending a decades-old energy relationship which crumbled after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. During a visit to Washington in April, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni discussed with U.S. President Donald Trump a potential increase in Italian imports of liquefied natural gas from the U.S. Pichetto said any such purchase should be based on competitive prices. "The fact that we have increased regasification capacity means that there is room to buy more LNG if it is competitive compared with (gas arriving via) pipeline," Pichetto said. He added, however, that U.S. LNG was currently being offered at high prices when it reaches Europe. "How is it possible that American gas leaves the shores of Florida at $10-12 per megawatt hour (MWh)," he said. " .... (and) it arrives on the shores of Portugal at $36 per MWh? This is part of bargaining between private operators and not between states".
Reuters
21-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Austrian gas hub records higher trading volumes despite end of Russian flows
FRANKFURT, May 20 (Reuters) - Austria's central gas hub has registered increased trading volumes on its platform this year, overcoming fallout from the halt to Russian gas flows through Ukraine, Chief Executive Gottfried Steiner said. The virtual Central European Gas Hub (CEGH), built around the Baumgarten distribution and storage point for Russian gas, has even boosted its intraregional role since a halt to Russian supplies and has been handling more gas via Germany and Italy. "It is a great surprise that the elimination of Russian gas transit via Slovakia has led to greater liquidity at the Austrian hub," Steiner told Reuters. "We are a resilient trading and transhipment hub. The past ... months have demonstrated this." Austria re-exports to Slovenia, Slovakia and Hungary, with the latter two also serving as transit points for gas to Ukraine, while remaining purchasers of Russian gas via southeast Europe. Vienna-based CEGH was set up in 2005 as a marketplace for Russian gas arrivals including those from the Nord Stream pipeline under the Baltic Sea, helped by huge nearby Austrian caverns as interim storage. Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia in February 2022, ended transit for Russian gas at the start of this year. The 366-member CEGH traded 67.1 terawatt hours of spot gas and 76.8 TWh of gas futures in the year to May 18, up 0.3% and 12% respectively from a year earlier. "We can be optimistic that this liquidity improvement will continue," Steiner said. Importers have largely replaced Russian gas with Norwegian pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) arriving in European ports. Steiner said the gas market was beginning to see growing inventories, which are desirable for supply security. "Price margins for feed-in in summer for winter 2025/26 have turned positive since April," he said, echoing remarks by utility Uniper's ( opens new tab CEO last week. Steiner cited a 24% drop in spot gas prices since March as policymakers have sought to discourage short-term hgoarding. The summer-winter spread, a guide to profit opportunities, has reached up to 1 euro per megawatt hour since April, having been negative throughout the previous six months.
Bloomberg
20-05-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
EU Likely to Propose Quota to Ban Russia Gas Imports by End 2027
The European Union is likely to propose a quota as the mechanism to enforce a bloc-wide import ban on Russian gas by the end of 2027, which officials say should provide companies with a legal basis to terminate long-term purchase contracts. The European Commission is discussing the introduction of an import quota of zero for Russian gas, according to people with knowledge of the matter. That will allow European buyers to invoke force majeure to terminate agreements with Russian suppliers, said the people, who asked not to be identified commenting on internal talks.
Malay Mail
18-05-2025
- Business
- Malay Mail
Sanctions, tariffs and transparency measures: How the EU plans to phase out Russian gas and LNG by 2027
BRUSSELS, May 18 — The European Commission will next month propose legal measures to fully phase out the EU's Russian gas imports by the end of 2027, and ban spot contracts with Russia by the end of this year. Here's how that could work. How will the EU ban Russian gas? Sanctions are legally the easiest route for the EU to ban Russian gas and liquefied gas imports. However, they require unanimous approval from all 27 EU countries. Hungary and Slovakia, who want to maintain close political ties with Russia, have vowed to block gas sanctions. The two countries import it via the Turkstream pipeline, and say switching to alternatives would increase energy prices. As a workaround, the European Commission will in June propose alternative measures that can be approved by a reinforced majority of countries — and which can only be blocked by a group of at least four countries. In a closed-door meeting of EU countries' ambassadors last week, all bar Hungary and Slovakia welcomed the plan to ban Russian gas, EU diplomats said. Still, some raised concerns about the legal certainty of the EU plan, and its impact on energy prices. If not sanctions, then how? The Commission has declined to specify the type of legal tools it's working on. EU diplomats point to a few options. One would be to impose tariffs on Russian gas and LNG imports. While not an outright ban, tariffs would aim to make new Russian gas deals economically unfeasible. EU tariffs on Russian fertilisers offer an example of how this could work. There, the EU plans to impose a tariff that rises to 430 euros (US$481.21) per ton within three years — a 'prohibitive' level designed to effectively cut off imports. Such tariffs could also allow European companies with long-term Russian gas contracts to argue that EU regulation has changed to such an extent that the terms of their contracts are unsustainable, and invoke 'force majeure' to exit these deals. Lawyers have warned, however, that companies could face financial penalties for doing this. How can a ban be enforced? Governments say more transparency on Russian gas trades will be crucial. To achieve this, the EU could use the 'Union Database', a European Commission platform which tracks EU imports of biofuels. That tool could be re-purposed to track Russian gas and reveal which companies are trading it, allowing officials to target suppliers or traders that breach the ban. The Commission's June proposals will also include obligations for companies to disclose information on their Russian gas deals. Who will be most affected? Around two-thirds of Europe's Russian gas imports are under long-term contracts, which the EU plans to ban by end-2027. The rest is spot trades. Russia supplied 19 per cent of EU gas imports last year, through LNG and via the TurkStream pipeline supplying Hungary and Slovakia. That is far below the roughly 45 per cent of Europe's gas that Russia supplied before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russia's share is expected to fall further, to 13 per cent this year, after deliveries to Europe via Ukrainian pipelines stopped at the end of 2024. Most EU countries that previously received Russian pipeline supplies have switched to alternatives. Austria, which received Russian gas via Ukraine until late 2024, now imports gas from routes including via Germany and Italy, typically from a mix of suppliers. For Hungary and Slovakia, moving to alternatives will cost. Russian pipeline gas was sold at a 13-15 per cent discount to other options last year, according to analysis by the Center for the Study of Democracy. For LNG, the picture is different. Belgium, France and Spain import most of the Russian LNG entering Europe, and can more easily replace this with other supplies from other sources, such as the US, which the EU is under pressure from President Donald Trump to do. However, some Russian LNG is under long-term contracts that, unless interrupted, would run until as late as 2041. Companies with these contracts include TotalEnergies, SEFE and Naturgy. — Reuters
Reuters
16-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Explainer: How could the EU ban Russian gas?
BRUSSELS, May 16 (Reuters) - The European Commission will next month propose legal measures to fully phase out the EU's Russian gas imports by the end of 2027, and ban spot contracts with Russia by the end of this year. Here's how that could work. Sanctions are legally the easiest route for the EU to ban Russian gas and liquefied gas imports. However, they require unanimous approval from all 27 EU countries. Hungary and Slovakia, who want to maintain close political ties with Russia, have vowed to block gas sanctions. The two countries import it via the Turkstream pipeline, and say switching to alternatives would increase energy prices. As a workaround, the European Commission will in June propose alternative measures that can be approved by a reinforced majority of countries - and which can only be blocked by a group of at least four countries. In a closed-door meeting of EU countries' ambassadors last week, all bar Hungary and Slovakia welcomed the plan to ban Russian gas, EU diplomats said. Still, some raised concerns about the legal certainty of the EU plan, and its impact on energy prices. The Commission has declined to specify the type of legal tools it's working on. EU diplomats point to a few options. One would be to impose tariffs on Russian gas and LNG imports. While not an outright ban, tariffs would aim to make new Russian gas deals economically unfeasible. EU tariffs on Russian fertilisers offer an example of how this could work. There, the EU plans to impose a tariff that rises to 430 euros ($481.21) per ton within three years - a "prohibitive" level designed to effectively cut off imports. Such tariffs could also allow European companies with long-term Russian gas contracts to argue that EU regulation has changed to such an extent that the terms of their contracts are unsustainable, and invoke "force majeure" to exit these deals. Lawyers have warned, however, that companies could face financial penalties for doing this. Governments say more transparency on Russian gas trades will be crucial. To achieve this, the EU could use the "Union Database", a European Commission platform which tracks EU imports of biofuels. That tool could be re-purposed to track Russian gas and reveal which companies are trading it, allowing officials to target suppliers or traders that breach the ban. The Commission's June proposals will also include obligations for companies to disclose information on their Russian gas deals. Around two-thirds of Europe's Russian gas imports are under long-term contracts, which the EU plans to ban by end-2027. The rest is spot trades. Russia supplied 19% of EU gas imports last year, through LNG and via the TurkStream pipeline supplying Hungary and Slovakia. That is far below the roughly 45% of Europe's gas that Russia supplied before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russia's share is expected to fall further, to 13% this year, after deliveries to Europe via Ukrainian pipelines stopped at the end of 2024. Most EU countries that previously received Russian pipeline supplies have switched to alternatives. Austria, which received Russian gas via Ukraine until late 2024, now imports gas from routes including via Germany and Italy, typically from a mix of suppliers. For Hungary and Slovakia, moving to alternatives will cost. Russian pipeline gas was sold at a 13-15% discount to other options last year, according to analysis by the Center for the Study of Democracy. For LNG, the picture is different. Belgium, France and Spain import most of the Russian LNG entering Europe, and can more easily replace this with other supplies from other sources, such as the U.S., which the EU is under pressure from President Donald Trump to do. However, some Russian LNG is under long-term contracts that, unless interrupted, would run until as late as 2041. Companies with these contracts include TotalEnergies, SEFE and Naturgy. ($1 = 0.8936 euros)
