Ukraine wants to replace Russian natural pipeline gas supplies bought from European countries and Kyiv is already in discussions with the United States on purchasing and financing supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG), Naftogaz CEO Yuriy Vitrenko told Bloomberg TV on Tuesday.
The head of the Ukrainian energy company says that after buying from Russia, Kyiv is currently buying reverse gas supplies that EU countries resell
According to Vitrenko, Ukraine would need to import gas worth up to $8 billion for the next heating season so that’s exactly what Kyiv is now negotiating in the United States – financing for the US LNG that can replace pipeline gas that Ukraine has been traditionally buying in Europe.
After Kyiv stopped direct purchases of Russian gas in 2015, Ukraine increased imports from Europe instead and now that Ukraine is lobbying for a full embargo on Russian gas, it believes that the American LNG is the best alternative Vitrenko noted.
According to the Naftogaz chief, US LNG can cover all Ukrainian needs for imports.
Ukraine’s natural gas consumption last year, according to Ukraine’s Gas Transmission Systems (GTS), amounted to 26.8 billion cubic meters, which is almost double the domestic gas production of 13.67 billion cubic meters
But within the wider European situation, Vitrenko believes that it cannot realistically replace in the short-term Russian supplies.
Before the advent of the Ukraine crisis, the US became the world’s largest LNG exporter and in mid-March, following the geopolitical implications of the conflict that’s still ongoing, the US Energy Department allowed Cheniere Energy Inc.’s Sabine Pass facility in Louisiana as well as its Corpus Christi terminal in South Texas to further increase LNG exports.
The signed orders, however, allow the export of only 0.72 billion cubic feet per day of LNG to any country, including all of Europe, with which the US does not have a free trade agreement since most LNG export facilities in the US have been operating near their maximum capacities to meet both contractual obligations and spot demand markets.
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