LNG supplies from the US to Europe have already peaked — MET.

US LNG supplies to Europe have likely already peaked as the continent reduces gas consumption, said Benjamin Lakatos, CEO of the European integrated energy company MET Group.

"We do not expect Europe to consume more gas: its consumption is decreasing," Lakatos said on the sidelines of the Gastech conference in Houston.

Lakatos believes natural gas will play a transitional role in Europe "for 10-15 years longer than people think" and that it will remain important in the medium term, especially after the increase in regasification capacity.

But if you step away from Europe, the debate comes down to whether natural gas is just a transitional fuel or truly a "new emerging economy" that drives global energy demand in Asia and Africa, Lakatos said. Such an approach is "like a breath of fresh air for a European gas man", he noted.

The MET head is not worried about the Biden administration freezing new licenses for US LNG exports. MET suffered by signing an initial agreement for 1 million tons/year offtake from the Commonwealth LNG export terminal with a capacity of 9.3 million tons/year for a 20-year period. But "talking with our partners here, I realized that everyone looks relaxed," Lakatos said. - "In Europe, we are learning to comply with regulations."

In any case, these LNG projects without permits "will not have a direct impact on supplies to Europe", as additional LNG supplies are most likely to be directed to Asia, he added.

Lakatos noted that the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine would cease from January 1 when the current Russian-Ukrainian transit contract expires. But "the overall volumetric impact of this is still less than the impact of the weather," Lakatos said.

Source: enkorr