US working with allies to shore up energy supplies if Russia invades Ukraine

By Natasha Bertrand

The Biden administration is making contingency plans to shore up Europe’s energy supplies should a Russian invasions of Ukraine create gas shortages and roil the global economy, senior administration officials said on Tuesday.

In a briefing with reporters, the officials confirmed CNN’s reporting on Sunday that US officials have been in regular discussions with a number of countries and companies in Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and Asia about stepping up production of liquefied natural gas to Europe if war breaks out and puts the continent’s energy supplies at risk.

“We are working with countries and companies around the world to ensure the continuity of supply” and to mitigate any price shocks that may come from a gas shortage, one of the senior administration officials said. That has included discussions with countries and companies that produce liquid natural gas about increasing their production and diverting supplies to Europe “on a relatively temporary basis” if a crisis breaks out.

“That review has already been done, so we have a better understanding of what the (LNG) levels are,” the official said, which will “save time in case we want to press this trigger.”

CNN reported on Sunday that the discussions are in the advanced stages.

The other senior administration official discussed the willingness of the US and its allies to impose export control restrictions against Russia if it invades Ukraine, that would deny technology to Russia “that it needs and cannot easily replace.”

“If you step back and look at the global dominance of US-origin software technology and tooling, the export options would hit Putin’s strategic ambitions to industrialize his economy quite hard,” the official said.

He added that the US and Europe remain “unified” in their intention to “deliver severe consequences” to Russia if it attacks Ukraine even if the US and EU actions are not “identical” in nature.

“The convergence between the US and EU on financial sanctions is remarkable,” the official said, adding that the US believes Europe is “ready to take unprecedented measures.” The official noted that the European banking sector is “in much better shape” than it was in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

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