KIEV: Ukraine may receive liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States through Europe, Ukraine’s Minister of Energy and Coal Industry Volodymyr Demchyshyn told Sputnik.
“They [the United States] cannot send gas directly to Ukraine, because Ukraine lacks a terminal, which could receive [gas], but there is one in Europe. In theory, they can deliver gas to Poland or Lithuania and then transport it,” Demchyshyn said on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, DC.
US lawmakers have emphasized the geopolitical importance of LNG exports, arguing it will help European allies decrease dependence on Russian energy imports. The cost of shipping natural gas from the United States to Europe remains high and requires sizable infrastructure investments.
The first US LNG export terminal, Cheniere Energy’s Sabine Pass project, will come online later in 2016. According to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, there are more than two dozen proposed LNG export projects on the books waiting approval. The terminals are largely centered along the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific Northwest.
