The EU has continued to ramp up imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as it is eager to curtail imports from Russia. However, the share of Russian blue fuel exports to the bloc in May was still higher than the volume of gas supplies from the UK, data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) published on Friday showed.
The share of gas deliveries from the East, including Russia, has dropped to 7.2% this year. This is less than the volume of gas supplies from Northern Africa (9.8%) but more than flows from the UK (6.9%), according to GIE.
EU gas stockpiles are currently 68.87% full as pumping decreased by 31% in May compared to the same period last year, representing the lowest volume of gas uploading over recent years, data showed.
At the same time, inflows of LNG into Europe’s gas transmission system in May hit a record, reaching 12 billion cubic meters, GIE said.
In 2023, LNG became the main source of gas for the EU, accounting for 35% of total imports to the bloc, according to the European Network of Gas Transportation System Operators (ENTSOG). Gas supplies from the North Sea region, mainly from Norway, account for 26% of imports since the beginning of the year, and 12% were withdrawn from underground storage facilities.
Russian energy giant Gazprom continues to supply 40.6 million cubic meters per day for transit to Western and Central Europe through Ukrainian territory via the Sudzha gas pumping station, according to company data.
Earlier in May, Russian Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov declared that Western nations had not stopped buying Russian energy despite the unprecedented sanctions imposed by the US and the EU on Moscow. They have just switched to “workarounds” to procure Russian imports, the minister claimed.
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