Russia will probably be permanently shut out of the global energy market once Europe weans itself off the country’s oil and gas, according to executives of energy producers Chevron and Woodside Petroleum, in a boost for rivals in the US and Australia.
European nations are seeking new sources of oil and gas after Russian president Vladimir Putin’s troops invaded Ukraine on February 24. The EU has promised to cut Russian gas imports by two-thirds by the end of the year and has also proposed banning all oil imports from Russia. The country supplied about a third of the EU’s gas in 2021, according to the International Energy Agency.
Meg O’Neill, chief executive of Australian oil and gas producer Woodside, said it would take the Europeans “time to wean themselves off Russian energy” but once they had succeeded they would not go back.