In 2024, the difference in the price of Russian and American gas for Europe will increase. The statistics prove it.
Eurostat published a report on gas imports to the European Union in the second quarter of 2024. The EU Statistics Office indicates that between April and June 23.7 billion euros were spent on natural gas from abroad. This is more than a third less than a year earlier.
Judging by the data, the share of US money turned out to be higher than that of Russia, although Russia’s pipeline gas and LNG supplies exceeded US LNG exports to EU countries. Thus, 12.2 billion cubic meters were delivered from the other side of the Atlantic in the form of LNG, and from Russia, 12.8 billion cubic meters, according to Breugel. As a result, the share of domestic suppliers in EU imports increased to 18.6%, while US suppliers decreased to 17.7%.
At the same time, the payment for American “molecules of freedom” amounted to 4.28 billion euros, and for Russian ones – 3.79 billion euros. For every thousand cubic meters there is a difference of 15% or 55 euros (296 euros and 351 euros).
Thus, in the second quarter alone, the difference in the cost of gas from Russia and the United States amounted to 671 million euros (751 million dollars at the current exchange rate).
In the second quarter of 2023, the difference was less significant. The average price of American LNG was 482 euros per thousand cubic meters and Russian LNG was 476 euros.
On the one hand, the majority of pipeline gas and LNG volumes from Russia are supplied under long-term contracts with a pricing formula tied to European quotes, while US LNG is sold on the free market. On the other hand, discounts could be offered for Russian LNG spot supply this year.
According to calculations based on Eurostat data, pipeline gas costs European consumers overall this year more than LNG: 350 euros versus 330. This may be due to long-term contracts under which Europe receives the lion’s share. of fuel and is obliged to select the volumes. This was also another reason why the United States reduced exports to the EU and redirected large volumes to Asia. In the second quarter, supplies from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean fell by 20% compared to the second quarter of 2023.
Today, Russian gas exports, which have been reduced almost five-fold in recent years due to sanctions and counter-sanctions, are limited not only by EU political guidelines, but also by routes. Served only through Ukraine and Turkish Stream. At the same time, the EU largely compensated for the lost volumes not with LNG imports, but with a decrease in consumption: due to warm winters and high prices, which forced both ordinary Europeans and industry to save. money.
If in the second quarter of 2022 gas imports to the EU amounted to 94 billion cubic meters, in April-June 2023 – already 76.5 billion cubic meters, and in 2024 – 68.7 billion cubic meters. The quarterly difference compared to Gazprom’s full export periods is more than 30 to 35 billion cubic meters, which corresponds to the volume that the company lost in Europe.
As reported EADaily former president of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi drafted a plan to halt the economic decline of EU countries. At the center of Europe’s economic problems, the author places the cost of energy for industry, which is currently forced to pay 158% more for electricity and 345% more for natural gas than in the United States.
“We must abandon the illusion that only delay can preserve consensus,” writes Mario Draghi. “The delay only led to slower growth and certainly did not lead to a consensus. “We have reached a point where, if we do not act, we will have to endanger our well-being, our environment or our freedom.”
