New LNG terminals? Europe can more easily import oil. Use this oil where natural gas was used previously. Perhaps Europe needs to build more oil refineries.
“New LNG terminals? Europe can more easily import oil.”
Europe had been importing most of its Russian oil by tanker ship, so the infrastructure doesn’t need much change - just dock tankers from other providers instead. Only about 10% of their oil came by pipeline, concentrated in a few countries, like Hungary.
They have been making efforts to use alternative fuels where they can, like increasing coal for electrical generation.
There is a big job required to build out the infrastructure, and arrange for delivery, of enough natural gas to replace what they got from Russia. Many other suppliers need financing and technical assistance from Western oil majors to increase their capacity. More ships have to be built.
They plan to have replaced 2/3rds of pre-war Russian gas imports by the end of this year, and are ahead of schedule due to Russian shutoffs and slowdowns.
Around the middle of 2024, the pressure should relax on spot prices, as lots of new productive capacity is coming online from multiple diverse sources that are currently being funded, and only a few smaller or niche markets remain using any Russian gas (like Hungary). The last BTU’s worth of Russian gas is scheduled to be shut of in 2026.