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In May, Europe's gas imports from Russia surpassed supplies from the US for the first time in nearly two years, despite the region's efforts to reduce its reliance on Russian fossil fuels following the invasion of Ukraine.
This shift was driven by temporary factors, highlighting the ongoing challenge of decreasing Europe's dependence on Russian gas.
Despite increased imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the US after Russia cut its pipeline supplies in 2022, Russian gas and LNG accounted for 15% of the total gas supply to several European countries last month.
Meanwhile, US LNG made up 14% of the region's supply, marking its lowest level since August 2022. This reversal coincides with a rise in European imports of Russian LNG, despite some EU countries advocating for sanctions against Russia.
Although Russia ceased pipeline gas flows to north-west Europe in 2022, it continues to supply gas through pipelines in Ukraine and Türkiye.
The May gas flows were influenced by temporary factors, including an outage at a major US LNG export facility, and increased gas shipments from Russia through Türkiye ahead of planned maintenance in June.
Additionally, gas demand in Europe remains relatively low, with storage levels.
