By Marwa Rashad
LONDON (Reuters) - The chairman of liquefied natural gas (LNG) company Tellurian (NYSE:TELL) Inc, Charif Souki, on Tuesday said that cheap U.S. gas is a thing of the past and the only solution for Europe's energy crisis is to invest in U.S. gas infrastructure.
"Getting (U.S.) gas in the water for $4-$5 is something of the past; if you really want to justify an investment ... you have to think of $10-$12," Souki told the Energy Intelligence Forum in London.
Souki said investment in U.S. LNG projects could be Europe's one option to solve the energy crisis sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with Russian gas supplies to Europe having plunged since the start of the war.
"Europe will be spending $500 billion to $600 billion in subsidies for their consumers. For a fraction of that price, you could secure long term gas reserves from the Unites States," he said.
"There are $100 billion of liquefaction projects in the United states that are permitted but have not been able to obtain financing ...You have to make investments if you want to control the resource."
The United States has been the biggest supplier of the seaborne fuel to Europe this year, with U.S. cargoes representing more than 70% of Europe's Jan-Sept LNG imports.