Konstantinos Bogdanos
In the greater picture of his trade wars, Donald Trump pushed a bold idea: Europe should buy all its oil, gas and coal from the USA. It is a loud, daring proposal. Can the EU make it work? Should it even try? Let us cut through the haze with hard facts that avoid unicorns or wishful thinking.
Begin with the numbers. Europe needs about 4.7 billion barrels of oil yearly, 15 billion cubic meters of gas annually, and roughly 300 million tons of coal equivalent each year. The US produces around 4.85 billion barrels of oil yearly and over 1 trillion cubic meters of gas annually. It sounds close, but hold on. America consumes 7.3 billion barrels of oil itself every year, so it already leans on imports to keep running.
Redirecting enough to cover Europe’s full demand would compromise US markets or demand an impossible production surge. Things with coal are worse. US output stumbles far below Europe’s needs. Gas sounds doable, but even that faces hurdles.
Now consider logistics. Moving that much energy across the Atlantic is a brutal challenge. Europe’s LNG terminals process only 200 billion cubic meters of gas a year -too little to replace all other suppliers with American imports. New terminals require years and billions to build, with no quick payoff. Oil flows more easily, with US crude already reaching European refineries, but scaling to 100 per cent demands costlier shipping and port upgrades.
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