BAKU, Azerbaijan, February 29. In 2023, the US once again topped the list as the biggest provider of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe (EU-27 and the UK), Trend reports.
The US Energy Information Administration (EIA), referring to the data from CEDIGAZ, reveals that almost half of the total LNG imports came from the US. This marks the third year in a row that the US has been Europe's primary LNG supplier: 27 percent (2.4 billion cubic feet per day) in 2021, 44 percent (6.5 Bcf/d) in 2022, and 48 percent (7.1 Bcf/d) in 2023.
Meanwhile, Qatar and Russia maintained their positions as the second- and third-largest LNG suppliers to Europe last year.
Qatar contributed 14 percent (2.0 Bcf/d), and Russia supplied 13 percent (1.8 Bcf/d). Together, the US, Qatar, and Russia covered three-quarters of Europe's LNG imports in both 2022 and 2023.
In 2023, Europe's LNG imports stayed around 14.7 Bcf/d, similar to 2022, even with an additional 4.2 Bcf/d in regasification capacity. The mild winter weather in 2022–23 lessened heating demand, leading to a surplus of natural gas in storage at the end of the season. Europe set new records for LNG imports from June 2022 to April 2023, reaching a peak of 18.1 Bcf/d. However, imports decreased afterward due to full storage, high international LNG prices, and energy-saving measures reducing natural gas consumption.
Four countries, France, Spain, the Netherlands, and the UK, made up almost two-thirds (9.3 Bcf/d) of Europe's total LNG imports in 2023. Germany started importing LNG in January 2023, accounting for 4 percent (0.6 Bcf/d) of Europe's total imports by the end of the year, with over 80 percent coming from the US.