Despite the war: The EU will still phase out Russian gas by the end of the year
20 March 15:11
The European Union remains committed to completely phasing out imports of Russian liquefied natural gas by the end of 2026, despite the energy supply crisis caused by the conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran.
This was stated on the night of Friday, March 20, by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a press conference following the EU summit. Her remarks were reported by The Financial Times (FT), according to [Komersant].
“We have clear goals, and we are sticking to them,” von der Leyen replied when asked about the possibility of postponing the deadline for halting LNG imports from Russia due to damage to production facilities in Qatar and a global supply disruption.
“We are proceeding according to plan in the medium and long term, and our goals are very clear,” the politician continued.
Attacks on Energy Facilities in the Middle East
On March 18, Iranian news agencies reported an Israeli attack on gas industry facilities of the Islamic Republic located on the coast of the Persian Gulf. In particular, the world’s largest gas field, “South Pars,” which Tehran shares with Qatar, came under attack.
Following this, one of the world’s largest oil and gas complexes in the Ras Laffan industrial zone in Qatar was struck by Iranian ballistic missiles on the night of March 18–19. Reuters, citing QatarEnergy CEO and Qatari Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi, reported that 17% of the country’s LNG export capacity was knocked out as a result of the attacks.
According to al-Kaabi, two of the 14 LNG plants and one of the two facilities for converting gas into liquid fuel were damaged. This, he added, will threaten supplies to Europe and Asia.
