Ernest Scheyder and Arathy Smasekhar

HOUSTON (Reuters] – Leading figures in the energy industry said that there is a growing crisis. This was due to Europe’s dependence on Russia, and prices which have been astronomical for many months.

CERAWeek Houston’s panelists have highlighted the increased importance of a reliable energy supply. The U.S.’s decision not to import Russian oil has caused turmoil in the world’s crude market, but Asian and European gas markets are still struggling since 2014 when Russia cut off pipeline flow.

“Clearly, what is going on in Europe today is the scarcity of natural gas. It’s not oil,” Gabriel Obiang Lima, Equatorial Guinea’s minister of hydrocarbons said at the conference.

Russia is the biggest exporter of natural gases in the world. It sends approximately 23 billion cubic yards of gas per day (bcfd) to Europe and Eurasia. About half that goes to France, Germany, Italy, France, Belarus. Russia boasts the largest proven natural gas reserve of any nation.

“There is going to be a short- or medium-term impact to be seen, depending on how long this (crisis) lasts,” said Andre Cangucu, managing director for the Americas for France’s Engie SA.

The United States exports nearly all its LNG to date, about 12.6 BCFD. It sends it to European and Asian destinations.

For liquefaction or re-gasification, terminals are required to supercool the fuel and make it liquid. These plants take years and have been developed for many years. Very few new projects were started in the past three years.

“There’s just no additional LNG that’s coming online to bridge the gap for the gas that’s going to be needed by Europe next year – and it was cold in Asia, and Asia has no other alternative,” said Michael Smith, founder and chief executive of Freeport LNG.

Sources familiar with White House thinking say that the Biden administration is contemplating how far it will cooperate with U.S. natural-gas industry. They are wary of being interpreted by environmentalists to be a concession on their efforts to lessen reliance upon fossil fuels.

The European Union is not yet ready to stop purchasing Russian gas. Russia continues to send gas via its original Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Europe. However, Britain announced Tuesday that it would phase out Russian oil and gas purchases by the end the year.

According to U.S. Energy Department data, about 4% of Russian Gas Exports came from Britain in 2021.