The European Commission, according to an official document that was recently leaked, has called for wider energy source diversification in Europe, greater LNG imports, as well as better utilization of infrastructure by EU member states, which would reduce the amount of Russian gas needed in the EU.

The number of LNG facilities and interconnections has increased since a previous crisis in 2009, enabling all European countries to have either direct or indirect access to LNG terminals, the document notes.

Europe’s improved grid interconnectivity has proven crucial over the past few months in the continent’s ability to tackle the latest energy crisis, the document highlights.

The European Commission has proposed an increase in LNG imports, noting terminals and interconnections are not operating at full capacity.

The European Commission is currently holding talks with gas-producing countries and gas transit countries (USA, Qatar, Japan, Egypt, Azerbaijan and Turkey) to facilitate gas trade by making the international gas market more flexible.

The Brussels document also proposes the conversion of European natural gas projects into hydrogen projects as well as the establishment of green hydrogen agreements with countries that are ready to produce hydrogen on a large scale for supply to Europe, including Australia, Chile, Morocco, Namibia, Saudi Arabia, UAE and Ukraine.