Brussels, Belgium – Europe’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports fell to the lowest level since the start of the Russian military operations in Ukraine after a drop in prices reduced the regions appeal.
LNG deliveries fell 7% in July from a year earlier to 8.6 million tons, the least since November 2021, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg News.
This drop coincides with a slide in the regions benchmark gas prices, which have slumped more than 80% in the period and left LNG traders opting to send deliveries to Asia or wait for rates to rise again.
Europe’s LNG imports surged more than 60% in 2022 to make up for the loss of Russian pipeline gas deliveries after the Russian military operations in Ukraine.
The region currently possesses stockpiles and is facing subdued demand, but may need to boost prices to attract shipments away from rivals in Asia in preparation for winter.
The executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA) Fatih Birol warned previously that despite the slump in Europe’s gas prices this year, the continent is “not out of the woods” yet as expected higher LNG demand in China and the remaining dependence on Russian gas could worsen the European energy crisis later this year.
