A year after the start of the Russian war against Ukraine, virtually no Russian energy is coming to the Netherlands anymore. Liquefied Russian gas, which is not supplied by pipeline but by ship, is the only exception. Since the end of last year, no more crude Russian petroleum has entered the Netherlands, this was still about 30% in 2022.
When the war broke out, the EU countries agreed to phase out the import of Russian energy as quickly as possible. The Netherlands has tried to prevent imminent energy shortages as much as possible. After the previous sanctions on coal and crude oil, the sanctions also apply to Russian oil products. There has also been virtually no Russian gas entering the Netherlands via pipelines for some time.
Energy Minister Rob Jetten (D66) said that the Netherlands has set itself the goal of no longer filling the Russian war chest. As much as 60% of Russian state revenue came from fossil fuel exports.
“We will continue to work hard to meet current gas needs. For example, by facilitating more LNG imports from more diverse and stable regions, by filling our gas storage facilities, and by organizing joint gas purchasing in Europe and saving energy,” says Jetten.
Physical shortages in the Netherlands are not expected in the short term because stocks have been stocked and refineries in the Netherlands are switching to oil from other countries. In addition, according to Minister Jetten, the Netherlands has its strategic stock of oil and oil products in order.
Replacement imports have been arranged for some time from Australia, South Africa and other countries in North-West Europe, among others, to fill the gaps that have arisen, so that the coal-fired power stations in the Netherlands can still take over the production of gas-fired power stations.
In order to have sufficient gas next winter as well, the gas storage is again filled to a minimum of 90%. This accounts for about a third of the national annual consumption, but that gas is also used by other European countries. Work is also underway to further increase the import capacity for liquefied natural gas, following the doubling of capacity last year.