Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 31, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleThe EU considers pooling demand for US LNG to meet energy purchase targets, despite analysts' doubts about feasibility. The move aligns with climate goals.
By Kate Abnett
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -The European Commission could pool demand from European companies to buy more U.S. liquefied natural gas, as part of its efforts to reach a pledge to buy $250 billion in U.S. energy per year, it said on Thursday.
Under a framework trade deal the U.S. and EU agreed on Sunday, the European Union agreed to increase its purchases of U.S. energy to $750 billion over the next three years. Analysts have said that is unrealistically high.
The Commission has said it will remain up to private companies to choose where they buy energy, but that it was considering pooling European buyers' demand to match it with U.S. supplies.
"We are ready to do that," a Commission spokesperson told reporters on Thursday.
"At the moment, we don't have any decision on a dedicated Aggregate, but this can be done very speedily, if there's a need and interest," the spokesperson said.
"AggregateEU" is the EU's scheme to pool companies' demand for gas, which it launched in 2022 to attempt to replace Russian fuel with alternative supplies in response to the Ukraine war.
A round of this scheme targeting U.S. LNG could be organised as soon as September, if needed, the Commission spokesperson said.
The $750 billion energy deal covers EU purchases of U.S. oil, LNG and nuclear fuel and technologies.
Analysts said this number was higher than U.S. energy exports would realistically allow - and that the EU's oil and gas demand is expected to decline, as the bloc shifts to clean energy to meet climate targets.
The Commission has said the U.S. deal will not undermine its climate targets, which include legally binding commitments to cut emissions by 2030 and 2050.
"This will have no impact on our decarbonisation targets, none whatsoever. The agreement is for three years, three years only," the spokesperson said on Thursday.
However, the Commission said in a factsheet published on Wednesday that it could match EU companies with U.S. LNG supplies for a longer period - from 2025 until 2050.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett, editing by Bart Meijer and Barbara Lewis)
The EU aims to increase its purchases of U.S. energy to $750 billion over the next three years, as part of efforts to diversify energy sources and reduce reliance on Russian fuel.
The European Commission is considering pooling demand from European companies to match it with U.S. liquefied natural gas supplies, potentially organizing a round of this scheme as soon as September.
The Commission has stated that the deal will not undermine its climate targets, emphasizing that it will have no impact on decarbonization goals for the next three years.
AggregateEU is the EU's initiative launched in 2022 to pool companies' demand for gas in order to replace Russian fuel with alternative supplies, particularly in response to the Ukraine war.
A round of the AggregateEU scheme targeting U.S. LNG could be organized as soon as September, depending on the need and interest from companies.
Explore more articles in the Headlines category
