At the outbreak of the war, EU countries agreed to phase out imports of Russian energy as quickly as possible. The Netherlands has tried to avoid threatened energy shortages as much as possible. After earlier sanctions on coal and crude oil, the sanctions also apply to Russian oil products. Additionally, hardly any Russian gas has entered the Netherlands via pipelines for some time now.
Energy Minister Rob Jetten (D66) said that the Netherlands has set itself the goal of no longer funding the Russian war chest. As much as 60% of Russian state revenues came from the export of fossil fuels.
"We continue to work hard to meet current gas demands. For example, by enabling more LNG imports from a more diverse and stable range of regions, filling our gas storage facilities, organizing joint gas procurement in Europe, and saving energy," Jetten said.
Physical shortages in the Netherlands are not expected in the short term because stocks have been built up and refineries in the Netherlands have switched to oil from other countries. In addition, according to Minister Jetten, the Netherlands has its strategic reserves of oil and oil products in order.
Replacement imports have been arranged for some time from, among others, Australia, South Africa, and other countries in Northwestern Europe to fill the gaps created, allowing coal-fired power plants in the Netherlands to continue to substitute for gas-fired power plants.
To ensure sufficient gas for the next winter as well, gas storage will again be filled to at least 90%. This accounts for about one 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 last year's doubling of capacity.