The EU has become the world leader in LNG import.

According to 2022’s results, the European Union became the world’s largest buyer of liquefied natural gas, ahead of China, Japan, and South Korea, according to data from Refinitiv. Thus, against the background of a sharp reduction in the supply of Russian pipeline gas, EU countries increased LNG purchases by 58%, up to 101 million tons. This is equivalent to 137 billion cubic meters of natural gas. This is exactly the volume that the Russian Federation delivered to the EU in 2021. Last year, the volume of supplies from the Russian Federation fell by more than half to 60 billion cubic meters. As a result, the EU imported 24%, Japan 17%, China 15%, and South Korea 11% of total global LNG deliveries. The share of liquefied gas in Europe’s consumption increased 1.75 times, from 20% to 35%, while the share of Russian gas fell to a third of its previous level, from 40% to 15%.