US, EU Announce Massive Energy Deal

Some of the hit to Russian exports from its invasion of Ukraine is going to become permanent. The US and the European Union have reached a deal that will reduce Europe's long-term reliance on Russian energy, the BBC reports. The EU currently gets around 40% of its liquefied natural gas from Russia and the deal will see around 10% of the Russian supply, 15 billion cubic meters, replaced with LNG from the US by the end of this year. Under the deal, the supply from the US and international partners will rise to 50 billion cubic meters in following years.

The EU also plans to improve efficiency and step up the shift to renewable energy to reduce dependence on Russia. The bloc plans to reduce its dependency on Russian gas by two-thirds this year and end all fossil fuel imports from the country by 2027, reports Reuters. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Europe needs to get its energy from "suppliers that we trust that are friends and that are reliable." “We aim to reduce this dependence on Russian fossil fuels and get rid of it," she said.

President Biden said the partnership is "not only the right thing to do from a moral standpoint,” but “it’s going to put us on a stronger strategic footing," the AP reports. He said Putin uses energy supplies to "coerce and manipulate his neighbors”—and funds his "war machine" with the profits. Analysts say that while the US has increased LNG exports in recent years and set a record in 2021, it's not clear how much it will be able to boost production to meet Europe's needs. (More energy industry stories.)