The One Promise President Biden Will Keep No Matter What

Last March, President Biden made a promise to help reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian energy. 

Natural gas was at the top of the list. 

As more and more Russian tanks rolled across the border into Ukraine, it became clear that the EU was in for a rough year as Vladimir Putin weaponized Russia’s natural gas exports. 

There was no reason to think he was bluffing because if there’s one thing Putin has always counted on, it's that Russian gas kept the lights on in Europe. 

Now, we’ve talked before about Putin’s willingness to use Russian energy to his advantage. In fact, we covered this very topic about seven years ago when Russia and Ukraine were feuding over gas exports back in 2015.

The power that Putin held over the EU’s energy security was a shackle that had to be broken. 

Think back to the United States’ energy situation prior to 2008, when we were helplessly addicted to OPEC oil. It took a historic oil boom to release us from our bondage to that oil cartel. 

Unfortunately, the EU has no such luck when it comes to natural gas resources. When a similar shale gas boom was ready to erupt in the United Kingdom, its government shut it down via bans on hydraulic fracturing — one of the key components to extracting natural gas from the tightly locked shales underground. 

So when Putin’s threats started becoming a reality, President Biden stepped up with a little help from across the pond. 

Last March, when the EU’s gas crisis was in full swing (and getting worse), President Biden announced that the U.S. would supply an additional 15 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Europe in 2022. 

Let’s put a little perspective on that, shall we? The 15 billion cubic meters comes out to approximately 529.6 billion cubic feet of extra gas supplies heading across the Atlantic. 

Sure, it’s a lot.

But if there’s one thing the United States is flush with, it’s natural gas. 

And in 2022, the global energy dynamic shifted.

Did you catch it?

Over the course of a year, U.S. LNG exports to Europe swelled to new heights. 

Nearly 70% of all U.S. LNG exports ended up in Europe as we diverted shipments from Asia — that’s 7.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. 

However, there was a serious chink in that U.S. energy security for Europe. 

On June 8, 2022, there was a massive fire at Freeport’s LNG facility in Texas, halting roughly 2 billion cubic feet of LNG exports each day. 

For the record, this facility was our country’s second-largest LNG export facility, and it was only very recently that Freeport was given the go-ahead by the government to resume operations. 

The Natural Gas Comeback

There are few guarantees in life. 

Had it not been for that unexpected fire, the U.S. would have easily become the world’s largest LNG exporter. 

It turns out that in 2022, U.S. LNG exports only rose 8% year over year to 10.6 billion cubic feet per day — just a hair shy of Australia’s 10.7 billion cubic feet per day and slightly ahead of Qatar's 10.5 billion cubic feet per day. 

Mark my words: The U.S. will easily surpass both Australia and Qatar this year in LNG exports. 

Now it’s game on, and you can bet President Biden will stay true to his promise to keep U.S. gas flowing to Europe.

Until next time,

Keith Kohl

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A true insider in the technology and energy markets, Keith’s research has helped everyday investors capitalize from the rapid adoption of new technology trends and energy transitions. Keith connects with hundreds of thousands of readers as the Managing Editor of Energy & Capital, as well as the investment director of Angel Publishing’s Energy Investor and Technology and Opportunity.

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