The European Commission’s director-general of energy, Ditte Juul Jørgensen, has told the Financial Times that Europe will rely on non-Russian natural gas, particularly from the US, for decades to come.

While the EU increases its installed capacity of renewables (and storage) and improves its energy efficiency, there is a clear recognition that natural gas will be required, though the language suggests that there may be something of an effort to dilute this recognition. “We will need some fossil molecules in the system over the coming couple of decades. And in that context, there will be a need for American energy,” Ms Jørgensen said.

The news in itself is not particularly remarkable, given that the EU made an agreement with the Biden administration in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year for the supply to Europe of up to 50 million cubic metres of LNG by 2030.

Nevertheless, Ms Jørgensen’s statement will be a signal to European buyers that signing deals for supply past 2030 is politically secure, and thus help US companies sell longer-term contracts.