U.S. in Discussion with Energy Producers In Case Russia-Ukraine Conflict

JAKARTADAILY.ID - The US is in discussions with major energy-producing countries and firms worldwide about rerouting supplies to Europe in the event that Russia invades Ukraine, senior Biden administration officials said Tuesday, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

However, officials did not name the specific countries or companies with whom they were having a discussion to ensure an uninterrupted energy flow into Europe for the rest of the winter, but they did say they included a broad range of suppliers, including sellers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) on a conference call with reporters (LNG).

According to a Reuters report early this month, State Department officials held a meeting with energy businesses to explore contingency preparations for ensuring stable supply to Europe if Russian supplies were disrupted due to the potential conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

"We've been working to identify additional volumes of non- Russian natural gas from various areas of the world; from North Africa and the Middle East to Asia and the United States," a senior administration official said on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

"Correspondingly, we're ... in discussions with major natural gas producers around the globe to understand their capacity and willingness to temporarily surge natural gas output and to allocate these volumes to European buyers," the official said.

The discussion is to anticipate the energy supply disruption in case there is a Russia-Ukraine war as the European Union depends on Russia for around a third of its gas supplies. The interruption would exacerbate an energy crisis due to the shortage of fuel.