The European Union (EU) imports most of the gas it consumes, making it dependent on gas-producing countries. With the closure of the Groningen field (NL), Europe's largest, at the beginning of October 2023, this dependence has increased still further.
Against this backdrop, the EU is diversifying its imports and relying on reliable suppliers to avoid interruptions in deliveries. Since the outbreak of Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2022, the EU Commission has stepped up this strategy by adopting the RePowerEU plan. One of the aims of this plan is to reduce dependence on Russia and find reliable sources of supply.
The sources of European imports have changed in recent years: imports via pipelines from Russia have been sharply reduced, while LNG imports have surged.
This diversification strategy is all the more important for Switzerland as it imports all its fossil gas from the European gas market.
Note on the visualisations: LNG in the European market comes mainly from the United States, Qatar and Russia. The rest is imported from Algeria, Nigeria, Norway, Trinidad and Tobago, Egypt and other countries.