European Buyers Lock In 115 bcm of U.S. LNG by 2030 as Hormuz Disruption Chokes Gulf Supply
Updated
Updated · Fox News · May 30
European Buyers Lock In 115 bcm of U.S. LNG by 2030 as Hormuz Disruption Chokes Gulf Supply
4 articles · Updated · Fox News · May 30
European buyers signed and extended long-term U.S. LNG contracts this spring as the Strait of Hormuz disruption cut off key Gulf alternatives and storage levels slid toward critical territory.
U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran in late February and early March triggered a wider conflict that shut Hormuz, through which about 20% of global oil and LNG flows, sending European gas prices up roughly 25% in a day.
U.S. LNG had already become dominant in Europe before the latest deals: its share of EU LNG imports rose from 24% before the Ukraine war to 56% in Q4 2025 and 63% in Q1 2026.
IEEFA now projects EU imports of U.S. LNG at 115 billion cubic meters a year by 2030—about 80% of EU LNG imports and 40% of total EU gas supply.
That shift comes after Europe slashed Russian pipeline gas imports from 137 bcm in 2021 to 18 bcm in 2025 and passed a permanent ban on Russian LNG by end-2026 and pipeline gas by late 2027.
Has Europe swapped its dependency on Russian gas for a more expensive reliance on the United States?
Can Europe's green transition survive the surge in demand for American fossil fuels triggered by the Hormuz crisis?
How will the new US-EU energy axis reshape global alliances and markets beyond the transatlantic relationship?
Europe’s Urgent $750 Billion LNG Shift: The 2026 Hormuz Crisis, U.S. Dependence, and the Future of Energy Security
Overview
In early 2026, the outbreak of the United States-Israeli war on Iran led to Tehran launching missile and drone attacks on key Gulf oil and gas facilities, including Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG plant. This escalation resulted in the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital energy chokepoint, plunging the world into an immediate energy crisis. Severe supply shortages and price shocks followed, triggering a significant global LNG supply shock. As a result, Europe urgently shifted its energy strategy, rapidly increasing reliance on U.S. LNG to secure alternative supplies and manage the crisis’s economic and geopolitical impacts.