EU’s Fracking Hypocrisy

How LNG is still an accepted back door for fracked gas in Europe

With climate chaos looming and millions on the streets to support the youth climate strikes, it’s time to have a closer look at the hypocrisy of the European Union regarding fracking. A new Food & Water Watch report – The Fracking End Game: Locked Into Plastics, Pollution and Climate Chaos – casts a profound look at the United States’ current fracking and LNG export boom. This blog shows how the EU’s LNG import plans fit perfectly with the U.S.’ dirty plans.

A number of EU Member States have legislative or de facto bans on fracking in place, yet at the same time, imports of fracked US gas are on the rise: Between a meeting of U.S. President Trump and EU Commission President Juncker in July 2018 and spring of this year, exports of American fossil gas have increased by over 270%. In March 2019 alone, over 1.4 billion cubic meters of U.S. LNG reached Europe. While these volumes are still an insignificant fraction of EU gas consumption, decision makers’ endorsement of this steadily growing, extremely harmful source of gas is highly problematic.

In an attempt to take some heat off of the trade tensions between the U.S. and the EU, the European Commission is increasingly eager to show that it is willing to do its fracking homework: In May, the EU Commission confirmed at a meeting with U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry its plans to increase imports of U.S. LNG further, aiming at importing 8 billion cubic meters in 2023 (twice as much as in 2018).

Part of the EU-level groundwork for embracing fracked LNG was laid in the EU Parliament’s “EU strategy for liquefied natural gas and gas storage LNG and gas storage” in 2016. It underlines the “necessity of eliminating all barriers to global free trade in LNG, the production of which must be sustainable,” stresses that “future negotiations with partners such as the U.S. and Australia should include a strong energy component,” and “welcomes the Commission’s work towards removing export restrictions on U.S. gas to the EU”.

This EU-wide push for LNG from the U.S. has been translated into several projects in EU Member States already. There are 24 highly underutilized terminals to import LNG and a host of new ones are planned. Many of them can be clearly linked to fracked U.S. gas. In 2018, 37 vessels of U.S gas reached the EU’s shores. In the first four months of 2019, a number of 48 vessels had reached EU shores.

Welcoming fracked U.S. gas with open arms: EU LNG terminals

In 2018, Poland signed a deal for long term deliveries of U.S. LNG to its Swinoujscie LNG terminal, and the Polish gas company PGNiG sealed deals with U.S. suppliers like Port Arthur LNG, Cheniere and Venture Global LNG, as well as a contract with the U.S.-based Centrica. As if this weren’t enough, there are plans to expand the existing LNG terminals and build a new one.

Another import terminal hungry for fracked gas is Sines LNG in Portugal: The U.S. is one of the main LNG suppliers of the country, leading PortSEurope to note, “Sines port could be European gateway for U.S. LNG”.

Additionally, UK imports of fracked gas have skyrocketed between 2017 and 2018. Following the EIA’s data, the volumes of U.S. gas reaching the UK increased more than tenfold, and this number does not even include the flows of fracked natural gas liquids yet, acting as feedstock for plastics at the country’s petrochemical plants.

But other countries are also hungry for dirty U.S. gas: France, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Spain, Greece and Belgium have purchased increasing amounts of U.S. LNG since summer 2018.

From these LNG terminals, the fracked gas is transported into several other States. Over half of the EU countries are now supplied by gas from the US.

Even more to come?

Besides already ridiculously high unused LNG capacities in the EU – spare capacity is at about 150 billion cubic meters, leaving facilities over 75% idle – there are nevertheless plans to increase possible LNG import volumes further. And in many cases, U.S. involvement is already clearly visible.

The example of Germany is striking: While the country risks fierce criticism for bolstering NordStream II, a mega pipeline to import Russian gas, the German economic minister clearly supports the expansion of infrastructure to import fracked U.S. gas. Up to four LNG terminals are under discussion, and at least two are planned to be built with public money.

Importing the fracking boom – an EU priority?

The fracking hypocrisy is even slated to receive a “top priority” label from the European Commission: No less than 12 individual LNG projects are proposed for the Projects of Common Interest (PCI) list, a priority list for EU gas infrastructure which can lead to preferential treatment, including EU subsidies paid for by taxpayers.

One of them is a highly criticized LNG import terminal in Croatia. It is no secret that the facility on the tourist island of Krk is likely to import fracked U.S. gas once operational: Both Croatian and U.S. leaders agree that this terminal is “strategically important”.

Another potential EU priority is Alexandroupolis LNG terminal in Greece. While Bulgaria already benefits from another highly underutilized Greek terminal to import fracked U.S. gas, this new terminal is also linked to fracking: There is clear interest from the U.S. administration for this terminal and at least one U.S energy firm, Cheniere, is involved in the project.

Also the much-disputed LNG terminal in Ireland, Shannon LNG, has been on the EU priority list for years, despite showing no progress since 2008. Once constructed, it will almost certainly be used to import U.S gas into a country that banned fracking in 2017. With Poland’s clear intention to establish the U.S. as a long-term gas provider, and the simultaneous plans to expand the existing Świnoujście LNG terminal and build a huge new floating LNG import facility, the Polish Baltic Sea Coast Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) can clearly be seen a gesture of open arms for U.S. gas. Both projects applied to get on the Commission’s priority list.

There are other possible priority projects, namely four LNG terminals in the Baltic States as well as Swedish and Cypriot LNG terminals, which could easily import fracked U.S. gas.

These projects are not only very expensive and suck up urgently needed money for a just transition; they open the gates for one of the worst forms of energy for the planet and the people.

It is clear that we must not build infrastructure dinosaurs like these that do nothing but lock us into a dangerous, fossil-based future.