Why Russia Can’t Just Divert Gas to Asia

Dusseldorf, Beijing Germany and Europe are working flat out to reduce dependence on Russian natural gas. Even if the question of an official gas embargo did not play a role at the current EU summit, most European countries will continue to pursue this goal in the medium term.

This doesn’t seem to bother Russian President Vladimir Putin – he insists at every opportunity that he can sell the gas to other countries without any problems. But Handelsblatt research shows that a diversion to China, for example, would be far more difficult than the Kremlin boss wants the public to believe.

In recent years, Russia has exported between 150 and 200 billion cubic meters of natural gas to Europe, including Turkey and Eastern Europe. “This cannot be compensated for by other buyers in a hurry,” says expert Andreas Schröder from the market research company ICIS. Because there are currently no pipelines to redirect deliveries to China, for example. The expansion of liquid gas capacities for transport by ship has also recently stalled.