European LNG Tracker
About
IEEFA’s European LNG Tracker is an interactive data set to visualise Europe’s LNG infrastructure, demand and capacity outlook, and import and export flows. It is built by compiling data from a range of sources, including Kpler, Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE), Aggregated LNG Storage Inventory (ALSI), Eurostat and IEEFA analysis.
Last updated: October 2023
Content Overview
Use the links below for quick navigation:
1. Existing and planned LNG infrastructure
2. LNG regasification and capacity outlook
3. LNG import and export volumes
4. EU27 spending on LNG
5. Russia: LNG infrastructure and trade with Europe
Existing and planned LNG infrastructure
In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, countries in Europe* are betting on efficiency measures and increased LNG imports from non-Russian sources as the European Union (EU) aims to cut its dependence on Russian gas by at least 155 billion cubic meters (bcm) before 2030.
Additional LNG volumes will be handled via Europe’s large LNG infrastructure network, which consists of 36 operational import terminals, plus 17 new projects that are currently under construction or in the planning stage, and plans to expand four existing terminals.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, six LNG terminals have come into operation across Europe and one in France has been expanded, totalling 36.5 bcm of new LNG regasification capacity.
An additional 106 Bcm of new or expanded LNG import capacity is in the planning stage through 2030. This will bring Europe’s LNG capacity to 406 bcm.
* For the purpose of this project, the term "Europe" refers to the 27 member states of the European Union (EU27), the UK, Albania, Norway and Türkiye.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, six LNG terminals have come into operation across Europe and one in France has been expanded, totalling 36.5 bcm of new LNG regasification capacity.
The new terminals are located in the Netherlands, Germany, Finland and Italy.
El Musel LNG terminal in Spain, which was mothballed in 2013 immediately after construction, was brought back into service in August 2023 to offer logistic services of unloading, storage and reloading.
On 18 October 2023, TotalEnergies LNG Services France started the commissioning phase of its new LNG terminal in Le Havre, France.
Ireland’s Shannon LNG terminal, which was supposed to start construction at the end of 2023, was suspended for climate reasons.
An additional 106 bcm of new or expanded LNG import capacity is in the planning stage through 2030. This will bring Europe’s LNG capacity to 406 bcm.
Europe's LNG outlook
There is a big discrepancy between Europe’s forecasted LNG demand and the new regasification capacity being built and planned. LNG imports accounted for around 34% of Europe's gas consumption in 2022, up from 19% in 2021. In 2023, LNG imports have flattened, while the buildout of terminals keeps growing.
IEEFA forecasts that LNG demand will not exceed 150 bcm in 2030, leaving a potential gap of around 256 bcm of unused capacity. Considering Europe’s gas consumption in 2023, IEEFA has lowered its LNG demand forecast compared with an earlier version of the European LNG Tracker.
Between January and September 2023, the average utilisation rate of the EU’s LNG import terminals was 58%. The terminals with the lowest average utilisation rates were Piombino (Italy), Ostsee (Germany), Barcelona, Cartagena and Sagunto (all in Spain). The terminals with the highest utilisation rates were Krk (Croatia), Rovigo (Italy), Gate (Netherlands), Swinoujscie (Poland) and Bilbao (Spain).
LNG import and export volumes
LNG imports by the EU27, Türkiye and the UK totalled around 125 bcm between January and September 2023, up 68% on the same period of 2021 but only around 4% more than the same time in 2022.
While 19.5 bcm of new capacity has come online in Europe in 2023 (plus 17 bcm in 2022), LNG imports between January and September 2023 only increased by 4.8 bcm year-on-year.
Between July and September 2023, LNG imports were lower than levels in the same months of 2022. A significant dip occurred in September 2023, when LNG imports were 18% lower than imported volumes in September 2022.
EU27 spending on LNG
The EU27 paid almost €41 billion for LNG between January and July 2023: €17.21 billion to the U.S., €5.51 billion to Russia, €5.37 billion to Qatar, €3.52 billion to Algeria, €2.16 billion to Norway and €1.94 billion to Nigeria.
The EU countries that spent the most on LNG imports from January to July of 2023 were the Netherlands (€11.25 billion, 72% of which was paid to the U.S.), France (€9.72 billion), Spain (€6.35 billion), Italy (€4.66 billion) and Belgium (€4.05 billion). Other EU countries paid a total of €4.85 billion.
Russia: LNG infrastructure and trade with Europe
Russia has four existing LNG terminals: three in the Atlantic basin (Yamal LNG, Portovaya LNG and Vysotsk LNG) and Sakhalin in the Pacific basin. Yamal LNG is the biggest export terminal with 17.44 million tons per annum (mtpa) of liquefaction capacity, followed by Sakhalin (10.8 mtpa), Portovaya LNG (1.5 mtpa) and Vysotsk LNG (0.66 Mtpa).
Russian LNG supply to Europe has been steady in 2023. Countries in Europe have imported similar volumes of Russian LNG in January-September 2023 to values in the same period last year.
New floating storage units (FSUs)
New floating storage units (FSUs) are being implemented by Arctic Transshipment Company, a subsidiary of Novatek, that will enable Novatek to boost shipments of LNG to foreign markets including Europe.
- The 400-metre-long Saam FSU arrived this summer in Ura Guba, Kola Peninsula, Murmansk.
- The 400-metre-long Koryak FSU arrived this summer in Bechevinskaya Bay, Kamchatka.
Each barge has an annual transshipment capacity of 20 million tons, sufficient to handle production from both Yamal LNG and the upcoming Arctic LNG 2 project.
Yamal LNG Transshipments
The Zeebrugge and Montoir-de-Bretagne terminals continue transshipping Russian LNG from the Yamal project.
Between January and September 2023, 2.59 bcm of Yamal LNG was transshipped by Zeebrugge LNG, 1.83 bcm by Murmansk in Russia and 1.19 bcm by Montoir-de-Bretagne.
So far this year, Europe imported the biggest volumes of Russian LNG in January and February (2.04 bcm each month).
The biggest monthly imports of Russian LNG since 2021 have been: 0.98 bcm by France in February 2022, 0.88 bcm by Spain in May 2023, 0.65 bcm by Belgium in March 2023, 0.60 bcm by the UK (which last imported Russian LNG in March 2022) in January 2021, 0.41 bcm by the Netherlands in March 2022 and 0.39 bcm by Türkiye in January 2023.
From January to September 2023, Europe imported 14.44 bcm of LNG from Yamal, 1.17 bcm from Portovaya and 0.67 bcm from Vysotsk.
Zeebrugge LNG terminal in Belgium imported 37% more LNG from Yamal in January to September 2023 (4.47 bcm) compared with the same period of 2022 (3.27 bcm). Part of the Yamal LNG volumes have been transshipped to other markets.
The terminals that imported the biggest amounts of LNG from Yamal from January to September 2023 were Zeebrugge, Montoir-de-Bretagne (France) and Bilbao.
Greece’s Revithoussa was the European terminal that imported the most LNG from Vysotsk from January to September 2023, followed by Ereglisi (Türkiye) and Zeebrugge
The Zeebrugge and Montoir-de-Bretagne terminals continue transshipping Russian LNG from the Yamal project.
Between January and September 2023, 2.59 bcm of Yamal LNG was transshipped by Zeebrugge LNG, 1.83 bcm by Murmansk in Russia and 1.19 bcm by Montoir-de-Bretagne.
The aim is to transship LNG transported by icebreaker LNG carriers from the production terminal in Sabetta, Yamal, Russia, to conventional LNG carriers to be sent to other markets. Yamal LNG uses this route mainly during the winter months when icy waters make it difficult for LNG tankers to reach Asian customers located to the east of Russia.
About transshipments
A transsshipment service is the transfer of LNG between two ships, with or without the intermediate transfer of LNG into terminal tanks.
There are two types of transshipments:
1. Direct ship-to-ship transshipment between two LNG carriers berthed at the same time at two separate jetties of a given LNG terminal.
2. Ship unloading + LNG storage + ship reloading. This includes all the actions and technical interventions needed to berth, unload a ship, store the LNG in a tank and reload (partially or totally) the LNG into a ship in a given moment. Zeebrugge is the only EU terminal offering this service.
Authors:
Ana Maria Jaller-Makarewicz is an energy analyst for IEEFA’s Europe team. Her research focuses on topics related to gas and LNG, as well as other relevant European energy issues.
Alasdair Docherty is a Sustainable Finance and Data Analyst, predominantly covering equity markets in Europe. He has over sixteen years' experience with investment product management and is a BCS (UK) qualified Data Analyst.
Sofia Russi is responsible for strengthening and amplifying the voice of IEEFA’s team in Europe and disseminating expert research to the media and key stakeholders.