The Wall Street Journal: Biden decided to suspend the approval of new liquefied natural gas projects in Europe
The Wall Street Journal reported that US President Joe Biden’s decision to suspend approval of new liquefied natural gas projects is hampering efforts by Ukraine and Europe to get rid of dependence on Russian gas.
Ukraine recently signed an important agreement with a US supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to help Eastern European countries reduce their dependence on Russian gas.
However, this effort runs into a major obstacle, as it runs counter to Biden’s policy of blocking new liquefied natural gas projects as part of the fight against climate change.
Ukrainian D.Trading company, founded by DTAKA, has entered into an agreement with Venture Global to supply LNG to Ukraine and Eastern Europe, with the aim of enhancing energy security in the region.
However, the execution of the deal faces a major problem, because the Venture Global CP2 terminal, through which gas is scheduled to be purchased, is still under construction and falls under the ban imposed by Biden.
The US administration is supposed to support any project that helps reduce dependence on Russian energy, while Europe still imports about 15% of its gas from Russia.
If Europe cannot get gas from the United States, it may have to return to dependence on Russian gas.
Biden’s decision to suspend new gas projects raises doubts about the future of gas supplies from the United States to Europe, and that if re-elected, the ban could become permanent.
The United States recently suspended the approval of new LNG export contracts, and Deputy Energy Secretary David Turk stressed that this decision wouldn’t affect LNG supplies to Europe.
