Ukraine has received its first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States, energy company officials confirmed this week. It's a positive development for Kiev, which has moved to step up purchases of U.S. supplies and protect against broader regional supply concerns.
Ukrainian private energy company DTEK confirmed that it has received approximately 100 million cubic meters of American LNG that the United States transported to an LNG regasification terminal in Greece.
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An LNG tanker loaded with liquefied natural gas is moored at a floating terminal in Wilhelmshaven, Germany, in 2023. (Sheena Schulte/DPA, via AP)
The news comes after Ukraine's DTEK signed a supply agreement with US-based LNG supplier Venture Global in June.
The DTEK deal is the first major LNG deal between Ukraine and the United States, and will allow Ukraine to purchase an “unspecified” amount of LNG from Venture Global until 2026. The companies also signed a separate 20-year agreement. Traditional long-term LNG supply contracts.
The news came hours before Russian gas giant Gazprom is scheduled to halt all piped gas shipments to other European countries through Ukraine's pipelines following the expiration of a five-year contract.
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Then-President Donald Trump speaks at the Cameron LNG export terminal in Hackberry, Louisiana, in 2019. (Scott Close/USA Today)
Ukraine itself does not purchase gas supplies from Russia. However, the European Union remains heavily dependent on imported gas, including from Russia.
Even after the sudden suspension of the Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline, the EU still relies on Russian gas in the pipeline for around 5% of its total gas imports, and in the event of a supply emergency or emergency, the EU is raising new concerns about how to respond. Winter colder than expected.
A Belarusian worker works at a gas compressor station on the Yamal-Europe pipeline, southwest of the Belarusian capital Minsk. (AP Photo/Sergey Grits, File)
In the meantime, Ukrainian officials said they hope additional U.S. supplies will help fill the gap and ease the short-term supply crisis within the EU.
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“Such cargo not only provides a flexible and secure source of power for the region, but also further strengthens Russia's influence over our energy system,” DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko said in a statement. It's eroding,” he said.
