Syrian Arab News Agency S A N A
Washington, SANA- At a time when US officials claim that there is an alleged Russian attack with the aim of escalating the fabricated political crisis in Ukraine, the US energy industry has begun to reap huge profits from the new tensions, revealing a hidden dimension behind fueling the situation near the Russian border, in which energy and gas markets play the largest role, according to a new analysis published by the American newspaper Wall Street Journal.
“At a time when the Ukraine crisis raised great concern about Europe’s dependence on Russian natural gas, an incredible thing happened: the US liquefied gas exports to Europe grew for the first time in its history, outstripping the shipments of Russian pipelines, which usually represent more than 30% of Europe’s need of natural gas,” Daniel Yergin, energy expert and vice chairman of IHS Markit said in analysis published by the newspaper.
Yergin emphasized that the growth of oil and gas production in the United States is one of the country’s geopolitical and economic assets, which has allowed it to push Russian competitors out of the European market.
He noted that with the oil and gas industry continued recovery from the collapse in prices that occurred in the spring of 2020 as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, America has once again become the largest oil producer in the world, as its production now exceeds by 20% its competitors, namely Saudi Arabia and Russia, which is the largest producer of natural gas in the world.
In the context of his analysis, Yergin linked the success of the US oil industry and the escalation of the crisis in Ukraine, where he said: “There is no doubt today about the geopolitical importance of the new US oil and gas location. The Ukrainian crisis and the energy crisis in Europe shed light on the global impact of US oil and gas production.”
Earlier, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden underlined during a phone conversation the need to reduce European countries’ dependence on Russian gas, and the United States had increased its shipments of liquefied natural gas to Europe in recent weeks, tempted by high prices, and last December saw 95 tankers headed Oil from the United States to Europe. The American exports to Europe rose this winter by about 15 percent compared to what they were a year ago.
Ruaa al-Jazaeri
