"No [EU] member state should depend on a single dominant [gas] supplier, and we have made good progress on that. The diversification is important not only for security of supply, but also for competition. I would like to emphasize that there are no market barriers to US LNG coming to Europe," Canete said at a meeting with the US secretary of energy.
The EU commissioner Miguel Arias Canete and his US counrterpart Rick Perry took part in the 1st EU-US Energy Council Business To Business Energy Forum on Thursday.
The forum comes at a time when the United States is actively promoting its LNG exports to the European market, calling it an alternative to Russian gas.
Earlier this year, US Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell sent letters to a number of German companies, hinting that Washington could impose sanctions on firms that support the Nord Stream 2 gase pipeline project. Berlin described Grenell's actions as a "provocation" at the time.
The US has lobbied intensely against Nord Stream 2, offering Europe its own, more expensive LNG supplies instead. EU powers reached an agreement to amend the bloc's gas directive to account for EU-third state pipeline projects like Nord Stream 2 following heated negotiations between France and Germany in February. Berlin has been a key proponent of the Nord Stream 2 project, which would secure the country's status as a gas hub for deliveries further west.
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Once completed, Nord Stream 2 will double the existing 55 billion cubic metre per year capacity of existing Nord Stream infrastructure.
