US fears energy supply will meet demand, Biden senior adviser says

BRUSSELS, Oct. 7 (Reuters) – President Joe Biden’s national security adviser on Thursday urged energy suppliers to increase flows to meet demand, saying the United States was concerned it was unable to do so .

The surge in gas prices, with a European benchmark rising nearly 600% this year, has been fueled by low inventories and growing demand as economies recover from the COVID-19 crisis.

“The United States is really concerned that, for various reasons, supply will not keep pace with the recovery in demand,” Jake Sullivan told reporters after meetings with the European Union in Brussels, where he discussed the matter. some gas. Read more

Russia is a major supplier of natural gas to Europe, and its energy giant Gazprom is now at the center of a dispute over whether it could do more to ease prices in the spot market.

When asked if Russia is retaining energy as a lever, Sullivan said: “Russia is used to using energy as a tool of coercion, as a political weapon.”

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday that certification of the Nord Stream 2 submarine pipeline, which is awaiting approval from a German regulator, could curb the spike in European gas prices. Read more

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, whom Sullivan met on Thursday, said on Tuesday that Russia was not increasing its natural gas production, while Norway was.

“We have a fundamental interest in seeing global energy supplies of gas and oil at levels sufficient to support the global economic recovery and not slow down,” Sullivan said.

“We want to see enough supply to cope with the recovery in demand. And we would like energy suppliers to take action to make sure that is the case,” he said.

The United States was engaged in “a detailed diplomatic engagement” with the energy producers, he added.

Reporting by Robin Emmott; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Alexander Smith

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