Questions and answers Jul 29, 2025 Brussels 4 min read
EU-US trade deal explained - energy aspects*
EU energy imports from the US
The US already is one of the EU's top energy partners and, by far, the EU's first supplier of LNG, with55% of our LNG supply coming from the US so far in 2025. The US is also the EU's first oil supplier (17% of all EU imports in 2024), and a key supplier of nuclear fuel and fuel services, with US exports to the EU worth around €700 million in 2024.
The EU's total LNG import capacity now amounts to around 250 billion cubic metres per year, more than double the current annual LNG imports. Notably, between 2022 and 2024, a record 12 new LNG terminals and 6 expansion projects were commissioned across the EU, adding 70 billion cubic metres of import capacity. For context, the EU has imported around 50 billion cubic metres of LNG annually from the US in recent years.
Currently, 13 Member States** possess the necessary infrastructure to import LNG. The EU has ample spare capacity to accommodate additional LNG imports, including from the U.S., to replace Russian gas imports.
What does the EU-US trade deal foresee for energy?
The political agreement between the EU and the US will further increase cooperation on ensuring secure energy supplies.
The agreement between the EU and the US includes the intention to procure more US liquified natural gas (LNG), oil, and nuclear fuels and cutting-edge technologies and investments over the next three years until the end of 2028. With an expected offtake valued at around $750 billion (ca. €700 billion) over this entire period, the agreement will contribute to implementing our REPowerEU Plan and Roadmap to fully replace all Russian energy imports.
The estimates reflect the strength of our energy partnership with the US, which has become the EU's primary supplier of both oil and LNG.It also builds on extensive work with EU Member States, industry and other stakeholders to identify the energy needs to ensure the EU's full energy independence from Russia, Europe's energy security and lower prices for citizens and businesses.
Since the adoption of the Affordable Energy Action Plan in February 2025, the Commission has been intensively working with US suppliers of LNG. With this preparatory work, the Commission is ready to organise a dedicated process – AggregateEU - to collect demand from EU entities and match it with competitive US LNG supplies for the period 2025 until 2050.
AggregateEU is the Commission's flagship initiative for demand aggregation and coordinated gas purchasing at the European level as part of the EU Energy Platform, launched in April 2023, to make the EU's energy supply more diverse, secure and coordinated.
While the Commission facilitates contacts between relevant EU buyers and sellers, commercial decisions naturally belong to companies. At the same time, the US will have to support these purchases by ensuring unrestricted access and sufficient production and export capacity.
Diving into the numbers
The figure of $250 billion for per year over the next 3 years is the estimated average of overall EU energy imports from the US based on a thorough and robust assessment, which took the following into account:
- Current import volumes of US LNG, oil, nuclear fuel and fuel services in the EU, which already amount to around $90-100 billion per year. In parallel, we continue to diversify energy sources and invest in the clean energy transition over the longer term.
- Estimated additional volumes of oil, gas and nuclear fuels, including as part of the move away from Russian fossil fuel. In 2024, the EU still imported about €22 billion of fossil fuels from Russia and about €700 million worth ofnuclear supplies.
- Key US energy technology investments, services and exports into the EU, notably in the nuclear sector for conventional and Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), where we already have clear indications where U.S. companies are involved.
While solid projections have been developed, the final volumes and breakdown between oil, LNG and nuclear fuel and fuel services will depend on different factors, including commodity prices, exchange rates, FID decisions taken by project promoters, etc. These will be determined by commercial transactions....
ec.europa.eu
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REPowerEU at a glance
In response to the hardships and global energy market disruption caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the European Commission is implementing its REPowerEU Plan to phase out Russian fossil fuel imports.
Launched in May 2022, REPowerEU is helping the EU to
- save energy
- diversify energy supplies
- produce clean energy
Thanks to REPowerEU, we've safeguarded EU citizens and businesses from energy shortages, supported Ukraine by weakening Russia's war chest, accelerated the transition to clean energy and stabilised prices.
Putin's attempt to divide Europe by weaponising energy supplies has failed. Our joint efforts continue and Europe is now better prepared and more united than ever.
Key achievements
Energy imports from Russia
- All imports of Russian coal have been banned by EU sanctions
- EU countries still using Russian-designed pressurised water reactors made progress in replacing Russian nuclear fuel with fuel from other producers.
Roadmap to fully end dependency on Russian energy
More steps on the road to fully end dependency were presented in May and June 2025, after a rebound in gas imports in 2024. They will see the gradual removal of Russian oil, gas and nuclear energy from the EU markets in a coordinated and secure manner as the EU’s transition to clean energy advances.
The EU plans to:
- Gas - stop all imports of Russian pipeline and liquified natural gas by the end of 2027
- Oil – take action to address Russia's ‘shadow fleet’ (vessels employed by Russia to evade sanctions) transporting oil and stop Russian oil imports by the end of 2027
- Nuclear – restrict the import of uranium, enriched uranium and other nuclear materials deriving from Russia.
EU countries have to present to the Commission by 1 March 2026 national diversification plans with detailed measures and milestones for the graduel elimination of direct and indirect imports of Russian gas and oil. At the same time, efforts will continue to accelerate the EU’s energy transition and diversify energy supplies to eliminate risks to the security of supply and market stability.
Find out more what the EU has been doing to tackle the energy crisis
Securing affordable energy
Energy prices in Europe have declined substantially compared to the peaks in 2022, thanks to the coordinated European response and the REPowerEU Plan. Europe is investing in producing clean and affordable energy and securing its energy independence.
Following the Russian?full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU proposed?common gas procurement?to make sure that Europeans have access to affordable energy and avoid any energy supply disruptions. This system allowed us to start buying a share of our gas needs together, as Europeans, and not competing among ourselves for scarce supplies.
In place since April 2022, the plays a crucial role in helping to diversify our energy supply. The Platform helps coordinate infrastructure investments and negotiations with external gas suppliers to prevent EU countries from outbidding each other. The Platform also leverages the weight of the EU single market to achieve better conditions for all EU consumers.
Pooling gas demand
In April 2023, the Commission launched the demand aggregation and joint purchasing mechanism 'AggregateEU'. This initiative pools gas demand from EU and Energy Community companies and matches this demand with competitive supply offers from the global market. Following a call for matching rounds, companies can voluntarily conclude purchasing contracts with gas suppliers, either individually or jointly.
Over 7 matching rounds organised to date, the EU Energy Platform aggregated more than 119 bcm of gas demand from European companies and 191 bcm were offered by international suppliers. After seeking the most competitive offers, AggregateEU matched close to 100 bcm to cover European demand. AggregateEU in its original format expired in March 2025.
The Commission is now working on a permanent voluntary instrument for the demand aggregation and joint purchasing of gases, as well as on separate mechanisms for the demand aggregation of other commodities, such as hydrogen and its derivatives and strategic raw materials....
commission.europa.eu |
