Agency :
Birol noted that natural gas prices in Europe have remained high, particularly due to cold weather conditions, and emphasized that the continent has yet to resolve its supply challenges.
EU nations aggressively worked to reduce their reliance on energy supplies from Russia since the start of its invasion of Ukraine three years ago, leading to a sharp increase in LNG imports.
This surge pushed gas and LNG prices to record highs, particularly in the European market.
But EU also has the challenge of dealing with threats from U.S. President Donald Trump, who even before taking office in January warned the EU it would face trade tariffs unless it imported more oil and gas from the United States.
The U.S. is Europe’s main supplier of LNG. Its purchases from the U.S. grew after Russia’s war on Ukraine led the EU to drastically reduce its use of Russian pipeline gas.
