NEW YORK, August 2. /TASS/. The United States is reducing volumes of natural gas supplies to Europe and prevent it from rejecting the fuel from Russia, the Business Insider news portal said.

European countries are importing less Russian fuel than earlier but nevertheless cannot reject it in full, the news outlet said. The United States more and often redirects liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports from Europe to Asia, where the price of this commodity is higher than in Europe.

According to the report of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) released in mid-July, LNG supplies to Europe plunged by 20% to 7.4 mln metric tons - this is the lowest figure since October 2021. The decline of LNG exports to Europe was driven by lower gas demand, storages being filled, greater pipeline imports and a significant premium in the gas price in Asia.

LNG imports by Asian countries gained 8.2% to 22.36 mln metric tons, according to the report. Europe imported 54.6 mln tons in total in the first half of 2024, while Asian imports added 10% to 141.6 mln metric tons.