EU Should Ease Russia Gas Supply Slowly to Reduce Market Impact

Russian pipeline gas and LNG imports into Europe should be reduced slowly to avoid damaging the market according to Motel citing French economy minister Bruno Le Maire.

• “Our [dependence on Russian gas] has been greatly reduced since the Russian invasion but we want to do it gradually to avoid a too brutal impact on the market, especially for our European partners who are much more dependent on Russian gas than we are,” Le Maire said.
• “We have maintained imports in order to avoid excessive pressure on the market, which could have a very powerful effect on prices,” he added.
• Russia pipeline gas and LNG still contributes to 15% of the EU’s imports but with a target to end reliance on Russian fossil fuels by 2027. The EU was too divided to ban Russian LNG imports using formal sanctions according to Belgian energy minister Tinne van der Straeten last month.
• EU’s sanctions on Russian coal and crude oil were still “efficient” despite buying from countries such as India and China, Le Maire added.