Energy expert Boris Martsinkevich talked about how realistic Europe’s plan is to refuse gas supplies from Russia, and about how much blue fuel Egypt and the UAE can export to Europe.
Answering a question about the capabilities of the UAE and Egypt to export liquefied natural gas to Europe, Boris Martsinkevich, editor-in-chief of the Geo Energetika website specializing in energy issues, pointed out in an interview with RT. that there are obstacles related to infrastructure and the lack of sufficient LNG carriers in the world in light of the demand for liquefied gas.
An energy expert said: “This will require the UAE and Egypt to increase their LNG production capacity, although there are two LNG plants in Egypt that are not operating at full capacity, there are infrastructure-related hurdles besides not having enough LNG carriers. Most tankers booked for several years ahead.
Martsinkevich added that the UAE and Egypt have prospects in the next 2-3 years to export 6 million tons of liquefied gas per year each (12 million tons of liquefied gas is equivalent to about 16 billion cubic meters of gas per year).
As for the ability of the UAE, Egypt, Algeria and Azerbaijan to offset the gas exported from Russia to Europe, the energy expert ruled out the ability of these countries to completely replace blue fuel imports from Russia, since Russia exported about 155 billion cubic meters of gas last 2021, knowing that Europe consumes about 300 billion cubic meters of gas.
He explained: “The throughput capacity of the gas pipeline from the Azerbaijani Shah Deniz field is 16 billion cubic meters per year, of which 10 billion cubic meters will be allocated to southern European countries this year, and the remaining volume is intended for consumers in Turkey. , and there is no possibility to increase gas flows through it. The path to Europe lies only at the expense of consumers in Turkey, but I rule it out, as the Turkish economy is starting to show signs of growth.”
The expert continued: “As for Algeria, yes, there is an opportunity to increase gas supplies to Italy from this country, but at the same time we are seeing a crisis in relations between Algeria and Spain, which can lose Algerian gas at any moment.”
Regarding Germany’s plans to build liquefied gas stations to reduce dependence on Russian gas, Martsinkevich said: “These efforts may face opposition from environmentalists, and the construction of such stations takes two to three years, so no changes in by the next heating season ( next winter) Note that the amount of liquefied gas in the world is limited, so the construction of liquefied gas stations means nothing.
Touching upon the importance of the European energy market for Russia, the expert cited statements by the Russian leadership that this market will become unimportant by 2030 in light of Russia’s focus on Asian markets with high economic growth.
The expert stressed that Europe in general and Germany in particular will not be able to abandon Russian gas in the next 7-8 years, pointing out that Europe has only one way to completely abandon Russian gas – to destroy its industry and thus the demand for blue fuel will decrease.
Martsinkevich pointed out that the European Union has begun to abandon its green agenda in light of its efforts to reduce dependence on Russian gas as it begins to return to traditional energy sources, especially coal.
Source: RT