Germany prepared to assist landlocked EU nations in obtaining LNG, informs Olaf Scholz

In a key development, Germany has promised to assist landlocked European Union countries in seeking alternatives to Russian gas and oil as the EU looks to limit its reliance on Russian supplies. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz stated on Thursday that Germany will stand by European Union members seeking alternatives to Russian gas and oil via measures such as enabling eastern regions without ports in the North or Baltic Seas to access liquefied natural gas (LNG). He also stated that several nations have an even greater challenge than Germany in reducing dependency on Russian energy imports.

As per the reports of Euractiv, Olaf Scholz also stated that they must be ready to assist nations that do not have direct access to the North or Baltic Seas and rely on their cooperation. He continued by stating that the details are still being worked out. This comes as Germany made moves to increase LNG imports on Thursday, renting four floating storage and regasification units and naming Wilhelmshaven as the first handling hub in the North Sea.

Germany began filling the Rehden gas storage facility

In the meantime, Germany began filling the Rehden gas storage facility in northern Germany, which was abandoned by Russia's energy corporation Gazprom. Rehden has a storage capacity of roughly 4 billion cubic meters of gas. However, Rehden is only 0.6% full right now, significantly lower than the 36% average for Germany's gas storage facilities.

As international relations deteriorated owing to Russia's war in Ukraine, Gazprom dropped its business, which included western Europe's largest gas storage station at Rehden. Russian gas is critical to Europe, particularly Germany. However, Western sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine have put supply in jeopardy, as has a coming deadline imposed by Russia for rouble payments, which most customers have rejected. Recently, Gazprom suspended gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria as the two countries refused to pay for Russian gas in rubles.

Germany backs the EU's proposal for a gradual Russian import ban

Earlier, Germany was in denial about the Russian gas and oil embargo but now it backs the EU's proposal for a gradual Russian import ban. Despite this, the country's Economy Minister Robert Habeck has warned that supply disruptions could hurt Europe's largest economy, according to media reports.

Image: AP/ @olafscholz/Instagram