The EU, however, sees buying U.S. gas as a convenient way to fully end Russian LNG imports by 2027. The bloc bought record levels of the fuel from Moscow last year.
Despite that, Brussels chose not to crack down on Russian LNG in its latest sanctions proposal this week, prompting disappointment from the bloc’s hawks.
France is currently the bloc’s biggest direct buyer of Russian LNG. Last month the country bought 660,000 tons of the fuel, according to the Kpler commodities platform, accounting for 43 percent of the EU’s total imports.
That’s partly because French energy giant TotalEnergies holds a 20 percent stake in Russia’s Yamal LNG project, which operates a liquefaction plant in northwestern Siberia. Under a long-term contract, the firm must buy at least 4 million tons of LNG from the facility each year until 2032.
Ferracci, who was in Brussels on Thursday to discuss ways to save Europe’s carbon-heavy industries with EU officials, said Paris had no plans to change its Russian LNG stance or to support a total ban on imports.
The EU chose to “turn to the United States … and also the Middle East” for new supplies after Russia cut gas to the bloc following its invasion of Ukraine, he said, and “found a balance.”
“At this stage,” he added, “our stance is to maintain that balance.”