Why did LNG from Russia reach the USA? Because there was a demand for it. This is a normal consequence of the development of the liquefied gas market, which I wrote about despite the propaganda triumph of the Russian media. But why did the demand arise? The answer gives Poland an argument for the Baltic Pipe gas port and gas pipeline – writes Wojciech Jakóbik, editor-in-chief of BiznesAlert.pl.
Lack of infrastructure
New England, the region in which Boston is located, has recently experienced severe frosts. This has increased the demand for natural gas. The area has the highest raw material prices in the USA, excluding isolated Alaska and Hawaii. New England is meeting its demand for gas in 20 percent through imports.
For this reason, the American Enterprise Institute is calling for the construction of new gas pipelines that will bring more gas from other gas-rich parts of the USA. Another problem is also the Jones’s law from the times of Woodrow Wilson’s presidency, which prohibits foreign operators from supplying between US ports. It resulted in a situation in which it was cheaper for the Americans to buy LNG from behind the Great Water than to import it with a tanker, e.g. from the Gulf of Mexico, where US export terminals, Sabine Pass and Dominion Cove, are located.
Argument for Baltic Pipe
Despite this, the Russian propaganda machine makes the supply of LNG from Russia – through three transactions – proof of the success of Russian gas and the failure of American sanctions. Nothing of the sort. Intermediation allowed the gas of Novatek subject to sanctions to enter the USA. Supply is yet another proof of the desirability of building new gas infrastructure and removing unnecessary regulations that block trade in gas. It is an argument for expanding the gas port and Baltic Pipe.