Europe’s quest to replace Russian gas faces many obstacles

said Sheriff Suki, CEO of Tellurian, a gas company that is building an export terminal in Louisiana. No one will depend on Russia in the future. Now the United States has a chance to become by far a natural gas powerhouse.”

European countries have expressed their intention to phase out their dependence on more than 150 billion cubic feet of imported Russian gas annually, in part by importing an additional 50 billion cubic feet of LNG, nearly 50 percent more than they currently import.

It will not be easy, because the global LNG market does not exceed 523 billion cubic meters per year, of which 20% already goes to Europe. New LNG export terminals have started online in the United States and Qatar, but demand is growing faster, especially in Asian countries trying to mitigate air pollution from burning coal.

This leaves the United States, although many gas fields have insufficient pipeline capacity and have attracted a few major drillers because prices were so low until recently.

Since the Russian invasion, the Biden administration has pledged to increase liquefied natural gas exports to the European Union by 15 billion cubic feet, or nearly 40 percent. That’s about a tenth of Russian shipments to Europe, but US energy experts say US companies can produce and ship more gas with more pipelines and export terminals.

US exports are expanding, with three new terminals expected to be completed by 2026. Another 10 terminals are awaiting permits, long-term buyers and investors. EQT, one of the leading gas producers, has called on the country to quadruple its LNG capacity by 2030, a proposal that has broad industrial support.

“We have the resources in the field,” said David Brasil, CEO of RBN Energy, an analytics firm. And we can develop it if you have an indication from the administration that they want to develop natural gas resources. “