"Doppelt so!": In Germany, they calculated how much independence from Russian gas cost

The cost of American liquefied natural gas imported to Europe is twice as high (in German: doppelt so) as the price of Russian LNG, the journalists of the Berliner Zeitung newspaper calculated based on data for the first quarter of 2025.

For the specified period of the country The EU paid an average of 1.08 euros per cubic meter of American LNG — twice as much as for Russian liquefied natural gas, the cost of which was 0.51 euros per cubic meter. In total for this period The EU imported about 13.4 billion cubic meters of LNG from the United States for a total of about 14.7 billion euros. This figure corresponds to about 48% of the total LNG imports to the EU. About 5.3 billion cubic meters of LNG were imported from Russia, which corresponds to a share of 19%. For the specified amount The EU paid about 2.7 billion euros.

The price of Russian pipeline gas, which currently comes exclusively through the Turkish Stream, is mainly in Hungary and Slovakia, — was about 0.32 euros per cubic meter. In the first quarter of 2025 The EU imported approximately 5.3 billion cubic meters of pipeline gas for a total of about 1.75 billion euros. For comparison, the average price of pipeline gas entering the EU from other third countries — primarily from Norway, — amounted to about 0.24 euros per cubic meter. The total cost of pipeline gas imports from third countries to the EU in the first quarter of 2025 amounted to about 10.2 billion euros.

The difference in price is primarily due to the fact that Norway supplies gas directly via pipelines through the North Sea, while Russia is forced to redirect supplies through Turkey and other countries. Such routes significantly increase transportation costs, which, in turn, affects the final price. For example, in 2021, the average import price was about 0.20 euros per cubic meter of pipeline gas and 0.30 euros per cubic meter of liquefied gas, the publication recalls.

In May 2025, the European Commission presented a plan according to which all Russian gas supplies should be stopped by the end of 2027. The conclusion of new contracts, as well as the current spot agreements, should be terminated by the end of 2025. In order to "facilitate" the withdrawal from existing long-term contracts, the EU is considering legal refinements, such as raising duties or setting a zero quota, in order to give companies the opportunity to invoke "force majeure" when terminating contracts.

Hungary and Slovakia has already stated that they intend to block the measures, as they continue to depend heavily on Russian gas. In this regard, the European Commission plans to achieve coordination and adoption of measures through the qualified majority mechanism, which will bypass the veto of individual member states.