Germany to stop buying Russian coal on Aug 1, oil on Dec 31

The key challenge for Germany will be filling the gap that will be left when the European Union weans itself off the 158 billion cubic metres per year of gas that Russia supplies, said deputy finance minister Joerg Kukies

Germany will completely stop buying Russian coal on August 1 and Russian oil on December 31, marking a major shift in the source of the country's energy supply, deputy finance minister Joerg Kukies said at a conference in Sydney.

The key challenge ahead will be filling the huge gap that will be left when the European Union weans itself off the 158 billion cubic metres (bcm) per year of gas that Russia supplies, Mr. Kukies said.

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"We will be off Russian coal in a few weeks," he told the Sydney Energy Forum, co-hosted by the Australian government and the International Energy Agency.

Russian previously supplied 40% of Germany's coal and 40% of its oil, he said.

"Anyone who knows the history of the Druzhba pipeline, which was already a tool of the Soviet empire over eastern Europe, ridding yourself of that dependence is not a trivial matter, but it is one that we will achieve in a few months," Mr. Kukies said.

Germany is rapidly developing liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals to help fill the gas supply gap, but he highlighted that while the United States and Qatar could together supply around 30 bcm of gas in LNG form to Europe, that still left a huge gap.