MOSCOW, November 14. /TASS/. European companies are suffering not only from refusing Russian gas, but also from the failure of the United States to fulfill contracts for the supply of LNG to Europe worth tens of billions of dollars, Deputy Head of the Department - Head of the Directorate at Gazprom Kirill Polous said.
"At the first level, and a number of European companies will attest to that, they have already suffered, unfortunately, having concluded contracts for the supply of liquefied natural gas some time ago. Unfortunately, these contracts are not being fulfilled, the gas is not being delivered. A result, the volume of these contracts is estimated at tens of billions of dollars," he said.
Various regulatory restrictions in the European energy sector, primarily aimed at denying access to Russian gas, have led to a decline in demand, staff reductions at a number of companies, a decrease in production volumes, and even the closure of a number of companies or their relocation from Europe to other regions of the world, Polous said. At the same time, the United States has significantly increased its presence in the European gas market. As a result, Europe's demand for natural gas could fall by nearly one-third from current levels by 2050.
In addition, the United States is influencing the global gas market with its verbal interventions regarding the possible withholding of LNG supplies to China, as well as a temporary suspension of the issuance of export licenses, which is delaying the adoption of final investment decisions on a number of American LNG projects, for which preliminary agreements have even been signed to supply global consumers.
"So, there seems to be a certain contradiction in this US energy pressure on the main importers, which is manifested, on the one hand, in the fact that Russia and Gazprom are unfoundedly criticized for the unreliability of supplies, and, on the other hand, the US can suspend their export deliveries at any time, citing issues related to the country's energy security," Polous concluded.
Earlier, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller noted that Europe's current policy on its gas market and the continuing deindustrialization could lead to a new shock in gas prices and supply disruptions. According to him, the European industry is currently uncompetitive compared to its US counterparts due to the significant difference in gas and electricity prices.
Gazprom also said in its statement that the EU countries are artificially destroying gas demand to the detriment of their own economies, which will lead to a further decline in gas consumption in Europe and the closure of energy-intensive industries.
"The actions of the EU countries, on the contrary, are aimed at artificially destroying gas demand to the detriment of their own economies. The policies of the EU countries have led to a further decline in gas consumption, the closure of energy-intensive industries, and the transfer of production capacities to other regions. European gas consumption will continue to decline. The rate of decline will depend in particular on future policy decisions," the statement said. In addition, European gas production is not expected to grow in the long term due to the depletion of its own resource base.
As for global gas demand, according to the first preliminary estimates, gas consumption in January-October increased by 80 bln cubic meters year-on-year, and more than 70% of this increase was provided by Russia, China, and India, Gazprom notes.
Demand for traditional energy continues to grow against a backdrop of geopolitical instability and increased attention to energy security issues. The Central Asian countries of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan are also projected to increase their gas consumption in 2024. In the long term, China is also expected to continue to experience high gas consumption growth rates.
"Energy systems based on natural gas and long-term contractual relationships have proven their resilience, which is particularly valuable in the context of changing global markets. In the future, natural gas will play a fundamental role in the global energy sector," Gazprom concluded.