Portugal will increase purchases of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States and Nigeria, as it aims to end imports of Russian gas, Environment Minister Maria da Graca Carvalho said on Tuesday. According to data from electricity and gas grids operator REN, Portugal imported 49,141 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of natural gas in 2024, of which around 96% was LNG.
Nigeria accounted for 51% of those LNG deliveries, with the U.S. supplying 40% and 4.4% from Russia. Russia accounted for 15% of Portugal’s LNG supply before it launched the war in Ukraine.
Portugal’s long-running disconnect from the rest of Europe’s energy network has earned its status as an “energy island.” Thankfully, Portugal is home to a relatively well-developed LNG sector despite lacking oil wells, gas fields, or coal mines. Portugal and Spain were among the first countries to build LNG regasification facilities in Europe. Together, the two countries account for one-third of Europe’s regasification capacity. Spain has the most terminals while Portugal has the most strategically located.
Meanwhile, two weeks ago, Slovakia’s Prime Minister Robert Fico revealed that he’s not ruling out the resumption of gas through Ukraine following the expiration of a 5-year transit deal between Moscow and Kyiv. Fico has been pushing President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to restart the transit, citing higher energy costs for Slovakia and the whole region. On December 1, Azerbaijan’s state oil company, SOCAR, started supplying natural gas to Slovakia’s Slovenský plynárenský priemysel (SPP), the country’s largest state-owned energy operator. This comes just a month after SPP signed a short-term pilot contract to buy natural gas from Azerbaijan as it prepared for a cut-off of Russian gas via Ukraine.
‘‘The pipeline that runs through Slovakia has a capacity of 100 billion cubic meters,” Fico told reporters in Brussels on Thursday. “I want to do everything to ensure it is used in the future,’’ he added.
Natural gas prices in Europe soared to €48 per megawatt-hour on Tuesday thanks to seasonal increase in demand due to winter cold. Among President Trump’s initial measures was lifting a moratorium on new U.S. licenses for LNG exports shortly after inauguration, paving the way for additional export permits. This move is expected to drive higher demand for U.S. LNG from Europe and Asia. Trump urged the EU to purchase more American oil and gas to avoid potential tariffs.
By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com
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Publish date : 2025-01-21 10:30:00
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