After warnings that it has become over-reliant on the United States for liquefied natural gas (LNG), the European Union is looking to diversify its suppliers.<\/p>\n
That dependence emerged as the EU began shifting away from Russian energy imports following Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, while the U.S. pushed<\/a> LNG exports into the global market.<\/p>\n But now, Europe is experiencing what Bloomberg calls \u201cd\u00e9j\u00e0 vu<\/a>,\u201d as concerns grow over Donald Trump\u2019s aggressive bids to acquire Greenland.<\/p>\n \u201cGeopolitical turmoil in the wake of the crisis in Greenland has been a wake-up call,\u201d EU energy commissioner Dan J\u00f8rgensen told<\/a> reporters in Brussels Jan. 28. \u201cThere is a growing concern, which I share, that we risk replacing one dependency with another.\u201d<\/p>\n The continent is eyeing Canada, Qatar, and North African countries as alternatives, Bloomberg adds<\/a>. That option would serve Canada as it seeks new LNG buyers to reduce export reliance on the U.S.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will never use our energy for coercion,\u201d Canadian Natural Resources Minister Tim Hodgson recently said at a conference in India. \u201cCanada used to provide 98% of its energy exports to a single country. We are committed to diversifying.\u201d<\/p>\n The EU has been on a years-long campaign to improve energy security, with mixed success. The bloc cut gas demand by 20% between 2021 and 2024 and reduced imports of Russian gas by 75% since the Ukraine war started in 2022, though Russia remains one of its largest gas suppliers.<\/p>\n But the EU now sources more than half of its LNG from the U.S., creating a new high-risk geopolitical dependency, says<\/a> the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). The shift may have moved the bloc out of the proverbial frying pan and into the fire. [Author\u2019s note: Except that with declining gas demand, frying pans are increasingly<\/a> being used on electric stoves and induction cooktops.]<\/p>\n The EU\u2019s reliance on the U.S. could deepen further, the Institute adds. After a trade deal announced last July, the EU agreed to buy US$750 billion of U.S. energy by 2028, which \u201ceffectively ties the EU\u2019s energy supply to one seller, risking energy security and jeopardizing gas reduction plans.\u201d<\/p>\n At the time, however, the trade deal was written off as a \u201cdelusional<\/a>\u201d attempt to mollify Trump. But a series of long-term contracts announced at the Gastech conference in Milan last September could further entrench LNG\u2019s role in that trade. In a scenario where all the deals come through and the EU does not reduce gas demand, the U.S. could become the source of 75% to 80% of the continent\u2019s total gas imports by 2030.<\/p>\n EU countries could instead spend that $750 billion to install roughly 546 gigawatts of combined solar and wind capacity, the Institute calculated. \u201cThis would boost energy security and could bring down electricity prices.<\/p>\n But not all experts see a risk in heavy reliance on U.S. LNG. Some say the U.S. is itself becoming reliant on selling gas to the EU after trade tensions blocked its sales to China, writes<\/a> industry newsletter Rigzone.<\/p>\n