Germany has signed a new major long-term contract about imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG), reports Financial Times.

Gas tanker carriers can thus expect increased activities from sailing US LNG from the Gulf of Mexico to the receiving facilities in Germany.

The 20-year contract has been made with US Venture Global LNG and ensures the Germans 2.25 million tonnes of LNG every year. The deal is another result of Germany’s attempt to become independent of Russian gas.

It’s the third major contract that Germany has signed since 2022 to increase the nation’s security of energy supplies. German industries have for decades benefitted from cheap and excessive gas deliveries from Russia.

State-owned company SEFE (Securing Energy For Europe) represents the German side of the deal. SEFE was established when the Germans took over or nationalized Russian Gazprom’s operational assets in Germany.

Germany commenced their imports of LNG only seven months ago. Until then, the country had received gas through the Russian pipelines Nordstream 1 og 2.

But when Russia in February 2022 invaded Ukraine, and a wave of Western sanctions was launched, Russia responded by shutting down its gas exports to Germany and the rest of Europe.

Gas deliveries were further challenged by the blow up of the Nordsteam 2 pipeline. It remains unclear who was behind the sabotage.

Gas is fossil – Germany’s climate goal is not

Chief executive of SEFE Egbert Laege tells Financial Times that the contract marks “another important step on our mission to secure energy for European customers” and will “contribute to the further diversification and sustainability.”

The contract’s 20-year duration is an indication that Germany expects its economy to have a long-term need of LNG even though the country also has committed to reduce its net carbon emissions by 95% in 2045.

LNG is a fossil energy form although it emits 20 percent less CO₂ than other fossil sources.

The recent LNG contract is the second one made with Venture Global. EnBW, which is partly owned by the German state Baden-Württemberg, has previously inked a deal on annual LNG deliveries of 2 million tonnes over a 20-year period.

Venture Global now ranks as Germany’s biggest supplier of LNG.

Last year, German energy company RWE procured a 15-year deal on LNG supplies from Qatar.

US LNG exports surged last year as the energy crisis struck Europe and gas prices started to increase. Overall, more than 40 million tonnes of liqufied natural gas were shipped to the Europeans.

(This article was provided by our sister media, ShippingWatch)