The European Parliament is considering the possibility of accelerating the European Union’s complete phase-out of Russian gas imports by a year earlier than planned. If the proposal is supported, the EU could stop purchasing Russian gas as early as January 2027, whereas the previous plan aimed for this by January 1, 2028. Currently, member states and European lawmakers are preparing for negotiations on the final approval of this initiative.
This is reported by Business • Media
Situation in the European Gas Market and Qatar’s Position
At the same time, there is a decrease in prices in the European gas market: on June 25, futures prices for natural gas in the EU fell below €32 per megawatt-hour for the first time in three months, reaching €31.92/MWh, which is 1.3% lower than the previous day. This trend is occurring against the backdrop of potential changes in the structure of energy resource supplies to Europe.
Meanwhile, Qatar, the third-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas in the world after the USA and Australia, has announced the possibility of redirecting its LNG supplies from the EU to other markets. This is due to the introduction of a new EU directive that requires large companies operating in the European Union to identify and address human rights and environmental issues in their supply chains.
Temporary Restrictions on Russian Oil Exports via the Black Sea
In the meantime, the Russian Federation has suspended the loading of foreign oil tankers in its main Black Sea ports. From now on, all vessels must obtain special permission from the FSB, which may lead to a reduction in supplies to the global oil market by up to 2% of the total volume of global supplies.
“The European Parliament is considering proposals to accelerate the gradual phase-out of the EU’s reliance on Russian gas by one year, to January 2027. EU countries and lawmakers are currently preparing for negotiations regarding the EU’s plan to ban imports of Russian gas, based on the legal proposal made by the European Commission last month to completely phase out Russian gas imports by January 1, 2028.”