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Over the past two years, Europe has rapidly distanced itself from Russia’s energy commodities in protest to Russia’s war in Ukraine. The European Union’s embargo on the import of crude oil from Russia came into force in December 2022, followed by an embargo on oil products (including petrol and diesel) in February 2023. Meanwhile, natural gas imports fell more than 70% to 43 billion cubic meters (bcm) in 2023 from 150 bcm in 2021. And now reports have emerged that Germany and the Czech Republic are pushing the European Union to completely eliminate the remaining energy sources Europe imports from Russia.
According to Reuters, the two countries will ask Brussels to kick off regular high-level talks – potentially among countries’ energy ministers to end the remaining imports of Russian energy.
Although the EU has largely replaced Russian gas with natural gas (mainly in the form of LNG) from the United States and Norway, the bloc still got 15% of its gas from Russia last year. Last year, Russia sent more than 15.6 million metric tons of LNG to the EU, good for a 37.7% jump compared to 2021, the year before Russia’s Ukraine invasion. Reuters has reported that Berlin and Prague plan to make the call during a meeting of EU countries’ energy ministers in Brussels on Thursday. The ministers are set to discuss the obstacles they are facing in phasing out the still-high Russian energy imports.
The latest move by Germany and the Czech Republic represents the latest attempt by EU members to work to fully sanction Russian gas imports. However, some EU members–including Hungary and Austria–remain heavily reliant on Russian gas. This implies that countries in support of a full ban can expect considerable pushback, with Hungary previously saying it would block such a move. The bloc has already banned imports of Russian coal and sea-borne crude oil, with exemptions for some land-locked countries.
Source: oilprice.com
