HIGHLIGHTS
- EU is urgently looking for alternatives to gas supplies from Russia
- Portugal is about to use the port of Sines as a trans-shipment port for transferring fuel to other countries in the North Sea and Baltic Sea
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Finding new LNG supply
The Russian – Ukrainian war has severely reduced gas supplies due to sanctions imposed by the West on Russia – one of the world’s largest gas suppliers. In response to these sanctions, Moscow recently demanded payment for its gas in rubles (RUB). Therefore, the European Union is urgently looking for alternatives to gas supplies from Russia, which accounts for 40% of the total demand of the whole bloc.
Accordingly, Poland and Portugal are also working together to plan to become Europe’s main gas hub to other countries. Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki said after a meeting with his Portuguese counterpart that Poland would prioritize Portugal as the top gas supplier for this project. Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa also confirmed that the country has discussed the processing of large amounts of LNG with several governments in the near future, including Germany.
Reducing the dependence on Russia
Costa stated that Portugal is in talks with a number of governments about using the port of Sines as a trans-shipment port for transferring fuel to other countries in the North Sea and Baltic Sea.
Sines, the closest deep-water European port to the US coast, might serve as a transit point for LNG from the US, Nigeria, or Trinidad and Tobago, according to Portugal.
Sines’ ability to accommodate liquefied natural gas tankers will be doubled, with the LNG being transferred to smaller vessels and sent to European countries reliant on Russian piped gas.
Tran Van Hieu
EU spends 195 billion euro plan to quit Russian fossil fuels
