Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Comment
  • Published:

The US role in securing the European Union’s near-term natural gas supply

Nature Energy volume 7, pages 465–467 (2022)Cite this article

Subjects

The European Union’s plan to phase out Russian natural gas imports by 2027 rests partly on increasing near-term imports of US liquefied natural gas. This will require a coordinated policy response that includes securing supplies from major exporters, global diplomacy, expanding import capacity, and alignment with Europe’s climate goals.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Fig. 1: Monthly US LNG exports to Europe and the rest of the world.

References

  1. Opening remarks by president von der Leyen at the joint press conference with President Michel and President Macron following the informal meeting of Heads of State or Government of 10–11 March 2022. European Commission (11 March 2022); https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/STATEMENT_22_1708

  2. Jones, C. and Borchardt, K-D. REPowerEU: Joint European Action for more affordable, secure and sustainable energy. European Commission (8 March 2022); https://sanctionsnews.bakermckenzie.com/european-commission-introduces-repowereu-joint-european-action-for-more-affordable-secure-and-sustainable-energy/

  3. United States and European Commission announce task force to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels. The White House (25 March 2022); https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/03/25/fact-sheet-united-states-and-european-commission-announce-task-force-to-reduce-europes-dependence-on-russian-fossil-fuels/

  4. LNG Monthly, Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (US Department of Energy, 2022); https://www.energy.gov/fecm/articles/lng-monthly-2022

  5. Zaretskaya, V. U.S. liquefied natural gas export capacity will be world’s largest by end of 2022. EIA https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=50598 (2021).

  6. International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers (GIIGNL, 2021); https://giignl.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/GIIGNL_Annual_Report_November2021.pdf

  7. Stapczynski, S. Global LNG market faces shakeup from Japan’s green shift. Bloomberg UK (27 July 2021); https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-07-26/japan-s-green-ambitions-threaten-the-lng-market-it-helped-create

  8. Imports of Natural Gas by Partner Country (Eurostat, accessed April 2022); https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/main/data/database

  9. Fit for 55: The EU’s plan for a green transition. European Commission https://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/policies/green-deal/fit-for-55-the-eu-plan-for-a-green-transition/

  10. Alvarez, R. A. et al. Science 361, 186–188 (2018).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Roman-White, S. A. et al. ACS Sustain. Chem. Eng. 9, 10857–10867 (2021).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Proposal for regulation of the European parliament and of the council on methane emissions reduction in the energy sector and amending regulation (EU) 2019/942. European Commission (15 December 2021); https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=COM:2021:805:FIN

  13. Standards of performance for new, reconstructed, and modified sources and emissions guidelines for existing sources: oil and natural gas sector climate review. US Environmental Protection Agency (15 November 2021); https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2021/11/15/2021-24202/standards-of-performance-for-new-reconstructed-and-modified-sources-and-emissions-guidelines-for

  14. Joppa, L. et al. Nature 597, 629–632 (2021).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Natural Gas Monthly Report (EIA, 2022); https://www.eia.gov/naturalgas/monthly/

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX, USA

    Arvind P. Ravikumar

  2. The Payne Institute for Public Policy, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO, USA

    Morgan Bazilian

  3. Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA

    Michael E. Webber

Authors
  1. Arvind P. Ravikumar
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Morgan Bazilian
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Michael E. Webber
    View author publications

    Search author on:PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Arvind P. Ravikumar.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ravikumar, A.P., Bazilian, M. & Webber, M.E. The US role in securing the European Union’s near-term natural gas supply. Nat Energy 7, 465–467 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-022-01054-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Version of record:

  • Issue date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41560-022-01054-1

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing