Poland is considering cooperating with Portugal regarding potential LNG trans-shipping, according to the Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, while gas could be sent to other countries to help them cut their dependence on Russia.
As Reuters reports, after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the European Union is trying to find alternatives to Russian gas supplies. Now, according to Mr. Morawiecki “Poland is becoming a gas hub, so if we could obtain additional gas that would be distributed either to Poland or to our western or southern neighbors, we would be most interested in this kind of cooperation.”
Morawiecki counterpart Antonio Costa added that Portugal is in discussions with several governments about the possibility of using the port of Sines as a trans-shipment platform for the transfer of fuel from large vessels to smaller bulk carriers better able to operate in the North and Baltic Seas.
He explained that Lisbon is willing to provide Warsaw with technical support for the process.
In fact, Portugal plans to double Sines’ capacity to handle LNG tankers and transfer the LNG on to smaller vessels to send to European countries dependent on piped gas from Russia.
Portugal considers that Sines could become a gateway for LNG from countries such as the United States, Nigeria or Trinidad and Tobago.
Recently, the European Commission presented the REPowerEU Plan, its response to the hardships and global energy market disruption caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to the EU, there is a double urgency to transform Europe’s energy system: ending the EU’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels, which are used as an economic and political weapon and cost European taxpayers nearly €100 billion per year, and tackling the climate crisis.
