Seven countries — France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia and the Netherlands — led the charge to rein in gas purchase goals, advocating lowering a 90-percent-of-capacity storage target to 80 percent in certain circumstances. They say the higher figure is locking the EU into buying huge volumes of gas, much of it from the U.S., at a time when it is most expensive.
“In these turbulent times and [amid the] ongoing fight for competitiveness, it would be, of course, a better solution [to have greater flexibility] than just to stick to the current targets,” Lithuanian Energy Minister Žygimantas Vaičiūnas said in an interview.
Lower industrial demand “might be one of the potential consequences” of Trump’s tariffs, he added, making it objectively harder for the EU to buy more U.S. LNG.
Energy frenemies
Europe turned increasingly to American LNG three years ago when Russia invaded Ukraine and slashed gas supplies to the continent. The U.S. gas has since become a lifeline for the bloc.
That link is only expected to grow stronger in the coming months. The EU is trying to phase out remaining Russian energy ties and also needs to replace gas that, until recently, arrived via Ukraine.
“The EU will have to buy more American gas to make up for lost Russian supplies,” said Laura Page, a leading market analyst at intelligence firm Kpler. “Reducing the storage target will put less pressure on Europe’s gas imports this summer, which weighs on prices — meaning a better deal for the EU.”
