“Japan will soon begin importing historic new shipments of clean American liquefied natural gas in record numbers,” the American president declared.
Trump is similarly pressing the EU to buy more American LNG, threatening to impose severe tariffs if the bloc doesn’t meet that and other demands. Brussels has dispatched envoys to Washington to negotiate and is keen to strike an LNG deal. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has touted it as a way to finally quit Russian LNG.
However, any move to follow Japan’s lead would likely face opposition from climate activists and green groups, who have long argued public funds should not be spent on increasing fossil fuel extraction and exports.
Following Ishiba’s visit, Susanne Wong, Asia program manager for environmental NGO Oil Change International, warned that “financing U.S. LNG poses serious risks for Japanese investors and jeopardizes a liveable future for our communities.”
Still, Europe is already reliant on American LNG. After Russia cut off much of its pipeline gas supplies to the continent, EU countries turned to seaborne shipments of American LNG.
However, countries have kept their options open, with analysts repeatedly noting that importers weren’t signing long-term commitments. But the approach has exposed Europe to volatile prices.
Brussels now plans to explore a different method. The EU will “immediately engage with reliable LNG suppliers to identify additional cost-competitive imports from existing and future LNG export projects,” the proposal says. And it wants to help European buyers “secure LNG volumes under long-term contracts” in a bid to make energy more affordable.
The bloc wants to move fast on its LNG, vowing to act on them by July.
