EU's commitment to energy purchases from the US criticized as "unrealistic"

Reference News, July 31 report - According to AFP, on July 30, a deal was reached between Washington and Brussels stipulating that the European Union will purchase $250 billion in fossil energy from the United States annually over the next three years. However, energy experts interviewed by AFP said this commitment may be difficult to fulfill, even "unrealistic."

The report stated that the EU's total energy imports in 2024 amounted to 375 billion euros (approximately 435.5 billion U.S. dollars), meaning that more than half of the energy imports of the 27 EU member states will come from the United States in the future. Ronald Pinto, a natural gas analyst at the commodity research firm Kepler, said: "In our view, the EU's commitment is unrealistic under current market conditions." He emphasized that even if the import pace is accelerated, "the EU will still find it difficult to achieve the target of $250 billion annually."

Specifically, this requires the total amount of all energy imported by the EU from the United States (including natural gas, oil, and coal) to increase by at least two times annually. According to estimates from different sources, the current amount is between 70 billion and 80 billion U.S. dollars — according to data from Kepler, it was 80.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2024.

In terms of oil, the United States supplied more than 16% of Europe's crude oil demand in 2024. To achieve the agreement's goal, U.S. oil exports to Europe need to "increase by more than twice." Pinto said, "This would require almost all of the U.S. oil to be directed toward Europe, but this would inevitably affect strategic ties with faster-growing emerging markets," and the possibility of such a scenario occurring is "extremely low."

In the liquefied natural gas sector, the EU's natural gas consumption (both liquid and gaseous) in 2024 was 332 billion cubic meters, a 20% decrease from 2021, indicating a declining trend in demand. The EU also imports coal from the United States, but the amount is far lower than that of oil and gas — less than 4 billion U.S. dollars in 2024. (Translated by Shu Meng)

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7533085878562882087/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author. Please express your opinion by clicking on the [up/down] buttons below.