The energy dispute between the European Union and China to do without Russian gas

The European disengagement from Russian gas has triggered a competition between Europe and China to secure supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG), with Beijing not only demonstrating that it has no intention of replacing European countries in dependence on Russian gas pipelines, but also a willingness to intensify energy ties with its geopolitical rival across the Pacific. The agreements for the purchase of LNG in fact require long-term contracts to allow the companies to make investments profitable for the increase in production. Together, Europe and China they account for almost 40 percent of LNG volumes set in supply contracts signed by the United States from the beginning of 2021 until the end of June 2023, with Europeans exceeding the Chinese quota only this year. The American Cheniere has signed a 15-year LNG supply agreement with the Norwegian Equinor and a more than 20-year contract with the Chinese Enn. Venture global has signed a twenty-year agreement with the German Securing Energy for Europe, while the French TotalEnergies has acquired a stake in a LNG terminal in Texas. Then there’s the Qatar, third country in the world for gas reserves after Russia and Iran. The China National Petroleum Corporation has closed a 27-year contract and a stake for the expansion of the North Field, the largest gas field in the world. The agreement follows the one signed by Sinopec, equal in volumes and duration. Qatar’s energy minister told the Financial Times he plans to sign similar deals with the UK, France and Italy by the end of the year. Germany has already signed a 15-year supply contract. The gas market is becoming multipolar. The rush of Europe and China to close LNG contracts has given impetus to a sector that before the war against Kyiv had no reason to expand so much; a war that is transforming the United States into an energy superpower, in the Atlantic and the Indo-Pacific.