Nor would taking Russian energy out of the equation make much difference: The bloc spent just €23 billion on oil, gas and nuclear imports from Moscow last year.
At the same time, the U.S. only sent $166 billion in oil and gas abroad last year, Page explained, meaning it would have to divert all its exports to the EU — and then some. That’s “just never going to happen,” she said, especially as U.S. LNG exports are not tied to a single destination and usually go to the highest bidder worldwide.
That’s not the only technical difficulty. The EU currently buys 12 percent of its oil and fuel from the U.S., according to Homayoun Falakshahi, head of crude analysis at Kpler. This figure could be raised to a ceiling of 14 percent, given that EU refineries can only handle limited shares of America’s specific blend of oil. “It really is a fantasy,” he said.
A senior Commission official also stated that the deal would be contingent upon specific “circumstances,” such as sufficient LNG infrastructure in Europe and “shipping capacity on the U.S. side.”
But the numbers are not “taken out of thin air,” insisted the official, granted anonymity to speak freely about the deal. “This is based on analysis of what our needs are.”
Another challenge is how Brussels would facilitate those purchases, given that it plays no role in buying cargoes itself.