MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to the European Union rose by 1.7% in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2024, exceeding 11 bln cubic meters. In June alone, Europe increased its purchases of Russian LNG by more than 27%, according to data from the European analytical center Bruegel.

Analysts noted that Russian LNG imports in June reached their highest level in four months, while gas deliveries via the TurkStream pipeline hit seasonal highs for 2024.

EU imports of Russian LNG in January through June totaled approximately 11.4 bln cubic meters, compared to 11.23 bln cubic meters in the same period of the previous year. Specifically, in June, Russian LNG deliveries to Europe amounted to 1.97 bln cubic meters, which is 5% higher than in May, against 1.55 bln cubic meters in June 2024, reflecting an increase of nearly 27.5% year-on-year.

According to the data, Russia became the fourth-largest supplier of gas to the European Union in the first half of the year. Total Russian gas deliveries to the EU during this period amounted to roughly 19.3 bln cubic meters. This volume was lower than that of Norway (47.95 bln cubic meters), the United States (40.5 bln cubic meters), and Algeria (19.9 bln cubic meters).

Overall, European gas imports in the Q2 reached their highest level since Q3 2023, largely due to record-high deliveries from the United States.

LNG supplies to the EU from the Americas (including the United States and Trinidad and Tobago) declined by 6% in June compared to May, totaling 7.7 bln cubic meters. However, in January-June European imports of gas from these countries grew by 6.7%, reaching 43.4 bln cubic meters. Around 11 bln cubic meters of LNG were delivered to Europe from Africa in the first half of the year, and 6.6 bln cubic meters came from the Middle East. According to Bruegel, total European LNG imports in June stood at 12.7 bln cubic meters.