Economics
Trump Says Europe to Buy Boatloads of U.S. LNG. Don’t Bet on It
- At least for now, Russian gas wins competition in Europe
- Asia lures most of the global LNG as Europe prefers piped gas
An LNG carrier ship sits docked at the Cheniere Energy Inc. terminal in Sabine Pass, Texas.
Photographer: Lindsey JaniesThis article is for subscribers only.
President Donald Trump’s vision of Europe becoming a “massive buyer” of U.S. liquefied natural gas is likely to crash into the reality that Russia is a cheaper supplier for now.
Europe is consuming record volumes of the fuel delivered by pipelines from its traditional and geographically closer partners, Russia and Norway. Production has been increasing in both of those countries, and the government in Moscow has been promoting vast fields in Siberia that can ship to Europe at a lower cost than the U.S.