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EU imports of Russian LNG reached a record first-quarter high since the Ukraine war began as the bloc faces energy disruptions from the Iran war and a growing reliance on U.S. supply.
The EU imported 6.9 billion cubic meters of Russian LNG in the first three months of 2026, a 16% increase from the same period last year, according to a report published Wednesday by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA).
Since the start of the conflict, shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz—a route that normally carries around a fifth of global LNG supply—has been largely halted by Iranian restrictions.
The disruption sent European gas prices sharply higher, with benchmark Dutch TTF futures climbing above €70 ($82) per megawatt hour at their peak as tightening supply pushed EU storage levels below 30%.
Although the EU relies only modestly on Qatari LNG, which makes up around 4% of imports, shortages forced Asian buyers heavily dependent on Qatar to seek alternative cargoes, adding further pressure to global prices.
Although pipeline gas flows from Russia to Europe have largely stopped since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, EU countries continued importing Russian LNG by tanker. France, Spain and Belgium remained among the biggest buyers.
Russia accounted for around 14% of the EU’s LNG imports during the period, while imports in April were also up 17% from a year earlier, the IEEFA told AFP.
The EU has pledged to end all Russian gas and oil imports by 2027. Brussels already banned short-term Russian LNG contracts in April, with a full LNG ban scheduled for January 2027 and pipeline gas restrictions set for September 2027.
At the same time, Europe sharply increased purchases of American LNG as it sought alternatives to Russian energy.
EU imports of U.S. LNG more than tripled between 2021 and 2025, while first-quarter imports this year rose 27% annually, the report found.
The IEEFA projected that the United States would become the EU’s largest gas supplier in 2026 and could provide up to 80% of Europe’s LNG imports by 2028. Researchers warned that the shift risked creating a new dependency on a single supplier.
"Europe's shift from pipeline gas to LNG was meant to provide security of supply and diversification," Ana Maria Jaller-Makarewicz, the IEEFA’s lead energy analyst for Europe, stated.
"Yet disruptions caused by the war in the Middle East and an overreliance on US LNG show that Europe’s plan has failed on both counts," she added.
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