U.S. 'Prepared" To Support Europe’s Energy Security And Energy Resilience

Washington said on Wednesday that it's been "prepared" to support Europe’s energy security and energy resilience following the Nord Stream incident, TURAN's U.S. correspondent reports.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Danish Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod and will begin discussing the "apparent acts of sabotage against the Nord Stream pipelines" with his other European counterparts, according to State Department spokesperson Ned Price, who reiterated the U.S. was committed to promoting European energy security.

Asked by TURAN's Washington correspondent if the alternative energy pipelines were also vulnerable to sabotage, and whether the U.S. would be willing to step up and help countries such as Norway, Azerbaijan and others to boost up the security of their pipelines, Price said in general, the U.S. "stands ready" to support European energy security.

"We’ve been deeply engaged in this task – even prior to February 24th," he said, adding that the U.S. and allies "did see this coming", meaning that Russians "could seek" to weaponize energy.

"We have worked with our European partners and European allies to surge LNG (Liquefied natural gas) supplies, oftentimes in cooperation with partners on the other side of the world. Countries such as Japan have been in a position to help us surge LNG supplies to Europe. Various countries have tapped their own strategic petroleum reserves," he reminded.

U.S. oil production is up by more than 500,000 barrels per day and its LNG exports, oftentimes to Europe, are up more than 20 percent since last year.

Knowing that the Russians could seek to weaponize energy as part of their aggression against Ukraine – over the longer term, "this will be something that we’ll have to confront year after year," Price added.

"Through various auspices and mechanisms, we are working with partners not only in Europe but around the world to lessen our dependence on Russian energy – Russia, of course, has proven itself to be a wholly unreliable energy supplier – but also to lessen our dependence on fossil fuels as we accelerate that transition to renewables, which will also be part of the answer," he said.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.