It’s a question that the mainstream media is asking. The short answer is no.
January and February ’22 have been the largest months ever for LNG into Europe.
On paper, we could still import 36% more LNG into Europe than January’s record 9.5m tonnes, which covered a record 32% of European gas supply.
But terminal utilisation rates in the best-connected markets of northwest Europe are generally very high.
Bringing more LNG into less well connected markets such as Spain would not do much to balance the broader European market.
New terminals and expansions would help in the longer term if Europe is ready to commit to more LNG.
In the short term, LNG’s share in the gas mix can rise as seasonal gas demand falls but it can’t replace Russian pipeline gas – and this is before factoring in Russian LNG which is Europe’s third largest LNG supply source.
Source : Ed Cox, Editor, Global LNG, ICIS (LinkedIn)
