By Marwa Rashad and Isla Binnie
LONDON/MADRID (Reuters) - Europe's liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals have limited available capacity to absorb extra supply from the United States or other major producers in the event gas from Russia is disrupted if it invades Ukraine.
Concerns have mounted that Russia, which provides around a third of Europe's gas, is preparing to invade Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly denied it plans an invasion.
The U.S. administration in January asked major energy producers such as Qatar whether they can send extra LNG to Europe.
At least half of U.S. LNG shipped this month has gone to Europe, Refinitiv data shows, with Europe poised to remain the top destination for U.S. shipments for the third month in a row.
(Graphic: European monthly LNG imports, https://graphics.reuters.com/UKRAINE-CRISIS/LNG-PORTS/znpnejreavl/chart.png)
LNG imports to the continent remain robust. After hitting a record high in January of more than 16 billion cubic metres (bcm), they have so far reached 6.9 bcm in February.
This means most of Europe's LNG terminals are operating at full capacity, especially in north-west Europe, where they feed large economies Britain, France and Germany, raising the question of how much more LNG can be processed.
(Graphic: European LNG import capacity map, https://graphics.reuters.com/UKRAINE-CRISIS/LNG-PORTS/klpykmwenpg/chart.png)
"A few cargoes could be squeezed into some other countries, but not significant supply," said Rystad Energy senior analyst Kaushal Ramesh, adding that logistical issues are likely to "burn a hole through buyers' pockets, again".
LNG needs to be regasified by transforming it from its frozen state back to gas and then transporting it through pipes - either directly for burning or to generation plants to make electricity.
(Graphic: LNG imports and nameplate capacity in Europe, https://graphics.reuters.com/UKRAINE-CRISIS/LNG-PORTS/dwvkrjwdkpm/chart.png)
Spain has the continent's biggest capacity, with six terminals, while Germany has none. The utilisation rate for the Spanish terminals was just 45% in January, data and analytics firm Kpler said.
(Graphic: EU LNG terminals utilisation rates in Jan. (%), https://graphics.reuters.com/UKRAINE-CRISIS/LNG/byprjxgjape/chart.png)
"The problem with Spain is that it has limited pipeline connections with the rest of Europe with only one pipeline that could take gas from Spain to France and so capacity is restricted somewhat," Laura Page, senior LNG analyst at Kpler said.
A European industry source, speaking on condition of anonymity said Iberian infrastructure could play a role if there were insufficient of gas for heating or for industry, but it would not be enough to address the shorfall.
Another option would be to park LNG vessels in Iberia.
"In (the Portuguese port of) Sines, maybe we can try to have a few more methane vessels than today, but not many more because it's almost fully operational," the source said.
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European monthly LNG imports https://tmsnrt.rs/36jjX0G
European LNG import capacity map https://tmsnrt.rs/3GRLAuf
LNG imports and nameplate capacity in Europe https://tmsnrt.rs/3sMCQ3r
EU LNG terminals utilisation rates in Jan. (%) https://tmsnrt.rs/3GRY05f
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