US-UK energy partnership aims to increase LNG supplies | Daily News Byte

LONDON — Great Britain and the United States are forming a new energy partnership focused on strengthening energy security and reducing prices.

In a statement on Wednesday, the UK government said the new partnership “will encourage work to reduce global dependence on Russian energy exports, stabilize energy markets and strengthen cooperation in energy efficiency, nuclear and renewables”.

The UK-US Partnership for Energy Security and Affordability, as it is known, will be led by a UK-US Joint Action Group led by officials from the White House and UK government.

Among other things, the group will undertake efforts to ensure that the market increases shipments of liquefied natural gas from the US to the UK

“As part of this, the US will seek to export at least 9-10 billion cubic meters of LNG over the next year via UK terminals, more than doubling the level exported in 2021 and capitalizing on the UK’s leading import infrastructure,” it said on Wednesday . said.

“The group will also work to reduce global reliance on Russian energy by encouraging energy efficiency efforts and supporting the clean energy transition, accelerating the global development of clean hydrogen and promoting civil nuclear power as a safe energy use,” it added.

Commenting on the plans, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said: “We have the natural resources, industry and innovative thinking we need to create a better, freer system and accelerate the clean energy transition.”

“This partnership will lower prices for British consumers and help end Europe’s dependence on Russian energy once and for all.”

The news comes at a time of major disruption in global energy markets following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.

The Kremlin was the largest supplier of natural gas and petroleum products to the EU in 2021, according to Eurostat, but gas exports from Russia to the European Union have decreased significantly this year. The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020.

Major European economies are scrambling to reduce their own consumption and secure supplies from alternative sources for the colder months ahead — and beyond.

Power industry CEOs predict that turbulence in energy markets is likely to continue for some time. “Things are extremely turbulent, as they have been all year, I would say,” said Francesco Starace, CEO of the Italian Enelhe told CNBC last month.

“The turbulence that we’re going to have is going to remain — maybe it’s going to change a little bit, the pattern, but we’re looking at one or two years of extreme volatility in the energy markets,” Starace added.