Ukraine determined to cut off Russian pipeline, "contract" gas and ensure energy security for Europe

DTEK company confirmed that the shipment of about 100 million cubic meters of gas is the first US shipment to Ukraine.

Ukraine determined to cut off Russian energy sources, 'contract' gas and ensure energy security for Europe. (Source: Dteck)

On December 27, Ukraine's largest private energy company, DTEK, announced that it had received its first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States.

Kiev believes the deal with Washington will help ensure energy security for Ukraine and Europe after the gas transit agreement with Russia expires.

DTEK receives the shipment via pipeline with the LNG being delivered to a Greek regasification terminal in the Mediterranean.

"Such shipments not only provide the region with a flexible and secure source of energy, but also further weaken Russia's influence over our energy system," said DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko.

Following Russia's large-scale military actions, Ukraine has been regularly increasing emergency electricity imports from European Union (EU) member states.

Ukraine also said that securing direct LNG supplies from the US would help relieve some of the pressure on the European gas market.

Despite the conflict, Russia has continued to pump gas through Ukraine to Europe under a multi-billion-euro deal. However, Kiev has long said it will not renew the transit agreement after it expires on December 31, 2024. It is the only remaining trade and political agreement between Russia and Ukraine.

Although the EU has largely cut off its gas imports from Russia, some Central European countries still rely on Russian gas via pipelines through Ukraine. Russia currently exports natural gas to Europe via only two routes, the first, a Soviet-built route through Ukraine, and the TurkStream pipeline to Türkiye that runs along the bottom of the Black Sea.

According to Gazprom data and Reuters calculations, Russia delivered a total of about 63.8 billion cubic meters of gas to Europe via various routes in 2022. That volume fell by 55.6% to 28.3 billion cubic meters in 2023. At its peak in 2018-2019, gas flows to the European region reached about 175-180 billion cubic meters per year.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/ukraine-quyet-cat-duong-ong-nga-bao-thau-khi-dot-va-dam-bao-an-ninh-nang-luong-cho-chau-au-298902.html