MOSCOW: Russia increased its natural gas deliveries to the European Union by 25 per cent year-on-year, reaching 36.1 billion cubic metres in the first eight months of 2024, according to data from the Bruegel consultancy, analysed by Sputnik.

This growth in gas imports comes despite ongoing geopolitical tensions and the EU's efforts to diversify its energy sources in recent years.

The increase reflects the continued reliance on Russian gas in parts of Europe, although the EU has been seeking to reduce its dependency on Russian energy amid various sanctions and energy transition initiatives.

In January-August, Russia's deliveries of liquefied natural gas (LNG) increased by 18 per cent year-on-year to 14.5 billion cubic metres. Russia ultimately became the second largest supplier of LNG to the European Union, increasing its share by 5 percentage points to almost 19 per cent.

This was mainly due to a decrease in the share of African sellers to 14 per cent from 19 per cent, and Middle Eastern sellers to 11 per cent from 14.5 per cent. The main suppliers of LNG remain American countries, in particular the United States and Trinidad and Tobago. Despite a decrease in supplies by almost 13 per cent in January-August, they still account for almost half of all European imports.

At the same time, the European Union increased purchases of Russian pipeline gas by 31 per cent year-on-year to 21.6 billion cubic metres in the first eight months this year. As a result, Russia became the second largest supplier of this raw material via the main line, overtaking Algeria, which saw its deliveries decreasing 1.4 per cent to 21.3 billion cubic metres.

The main supplier of pipeline gas to the European Union in January-August was Norway, which increased supplies by 4.2 per cent to 64.2 billion cubic metres.

Overall, the EU reduced purchases of pipeline gas by 1.2 per cent to 200.2 billion cubic metres, and LNG by 15 per cent to 77.05 billion cubic metres in January-August of this year.

-BERNAMA