As a result, Russian diesel makes up 27% of Europe's total 1.69 million b/d of imports in the period, the data showed.

The region’s storage sites are around 81% full, some 20 percentage points above the five-year average. That’s providing confidence that Europe will end the winter with inventories over 50% and “more than enough gas to completely replenish its storage by the start of next winter,”

Gas prices may have dropped, but are still almost double their five-year average for the time of year.

Despite the adoption of the Versailles Declaration in March 2022, when leaders of the 27 EU member states pledged to phase out the EU’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels as soon as possible, imports of Russian LNG increased by 12% in 2022 compared to 2021.

According to the EU-US announcement, EU commission aims to increase annual demand for American LNG by 50BCM by the end of 2030 and procure 15BCM more in 2022,

"Investment in new nuclear is a no-regrets option given expected increase in power demand and retirement of existing plants," the report said.

LNG deliveries to Europe have helped ease an energy crisis this winter after Russian piped supply slumped.

Norway has pledged to do as much as it can to boost gas deliveries to Europe to help counter record high gas prices triggered by the war in Ukraine and much lower Russian supplies.

However, in March last year the Belgian government decided to start talks with Electrabel - the Belgian subsidiary of Engie - with a view to extending the operation of Doel 4 and Tihange 3, allowing for the retention of 2 GWe of nuclear generation capacity.

Dutch front-month futures, the European benchmark, rose 4.3% to €72.50 a megawatt-hour at 8:55 a.m. in Amsterdam. The UK equivalent contract was 7.1% higher.

Germany exported around 501 TWh of natural gas in 2022 (749 TWh in 2021). As a result, at 948 TWh, more natural gas was available in Germany in 2022 than in 2021 (902 TWh).

Russia said Dec. 28 it will ban crude supplies to countries that observe the G7's $60/b price cap from Feb. 1 for five months. The retaliatory move, which applies at all stages of supply to the final buyer, had been widely flagged by Russia and expected by the global oil market.

Dutch front-month futures, the European gas benchmark traded 2% higher at to €66.30 per megawatt-hour by 12 p.m. in Amsterdam. The UK equivalent contract also rose. German power for next month increased 2.3% to €166 per megawatt-hour.

How will the 55 GW of generation from coal, gas, and nuclear be replaced during weeks of wind-still winter in mid-century Germany?

"The TTF month-ahead settlement price for derivatives is by far the most widely used benchmark in gas supply contracts across the EU, followed by maturities of two-month ahead and year ahead," it states.