Moscow continues to supply Western and Central Europe via Ukraine, Gas Infrastructure Europe data shows
© Getty Images/Dragan Mihajlovic
The EU has continued to ramp up imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) as it is eager to curtail gas supplies from Russia. However, the share of Russian blue fuel exports to the bloc in May was still higher than the volume of gas supplies from the UK, data from Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) published on Friday showed.
The share of gas deliveries from the East, including Russia, has dropped to 7.2% this year. This is less than the volume of gas supplies from Northern Africa (9.8%) but more than flows from the UK (6.9%), according to GIE.
European gas stockpiles are currently 68.87% full as pumping decreased by 31% in May compared to the same period last year, representing the lowest volume of gas uploading over recent years, data showed.
At the same time, inflows of LNG into Europe’s gas transmission system in May hit a record for the entire history of observations and reached 12 billion cubic meters, GIE said.
In 2023, LNG became the main source of gas for the EU, accounting for 35% of total imports to the bloc, according to the European Network of Gas Transportation System Operators (ENTSOG). Gas supplies from the North Sea region, mainly from Norway, have reached 26% since the beginning of the year, and 12% were withdrawn from the underground storage facilities.
READ MORE: Western states still buying Russian oil and gas – minister
Meanwhile, Russian energy giant Gazprom continues to supply gas for transit to Western and Central Europe through Ukrainian territory via the Sudzha gas pumping station in the amount of 40.6 million cubic meters per day, according to the company’s report.
Earlier in May, Russian Energy Minister Nikolay Shulginov said that Western nations had not stopped buying Russian energy despite the unprecedented sanctions imposed by the US and the EU against Moscow. These nations have just switched to “workarounds” to procure Russian imports, the minister claimed.
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