The Wall Street Journal reports:

The U.S. is ramping up shipments of liquefied natural gas to Europe this year as the continent mounts a worldwide hunt for new supplies to phase out its reliance on Russian energy after the invasion of Ukraine.

The globe-spanning effort to wean Europe off Russian energy supplies was at the center of President Biden’s summit with European Union leaders this week in Brussels. The U.S. aims to ship 50 billion cubic meters of LNG to Europe annually through at least 2030, officials said Friday, making up for about a third of the gas the EU receives from Russia. The EU imported a record 22 billion cubic meters of LNG from the U.S. last year.

The boost in U.S. gas deliveries goes only part of the way in covering the shortfall Europe faces in turning away from Russian gas. Officials across the continent are racing to sign new contracts with producers in the Middle East and Africa before next winter. France has ended subsidies for new gas heaters in homes and will instead subsidize electric heat pumps. Italy, the second-largest consumer of Russian gas after Germany, is considering burning coal at some power plants rather than natural gas. [Continue reading…]