Europe Is Likely to Disappoint Trump as Big Buyer of U.S. LNG

U.S President Donald Trump’s vision of Europe becoming a “massive buyer” of U.S. liquefied natural gas is likely to crash into the reality that Russia is a cheaper supplier, Bloomberg reports.

The U.S President, joined by European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker, said on Wednesday that the two key economies reached agreement to boost trade of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and soybeans as they defused an escalating trade dispute. However, this has followed some skepticism from analysts who say exporting LNG is an expensive business and will likely not be a big part of European energy anytime soon.

Commenting on the article, Inspired Energy Director of Energy Intensive Clients, Nick Campbell said: “It is interesting that we see talk from Trump of tariff-free, free-trade economics, yet in the same breath we see talk of Europe becoming a massive buyer of LNG when ultimately it is dictated by global prices.”

“One thing to note is imports may increase naturally in due course, as more projects in the U.S. come online and Australian projects serve Asia more easily as well as lower demand for LNG
from Japan as it returns its nuclear reactors. Potentially Trump will get his way, but through structural changes in the sector rather than sheer force of personality.”

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Source: Bloomberg