The Netherlands continues to import approximately 12% of its liquid natural gas (LNG) from Russia, despite the European Union’s commitment to halt such imports by next year. This ongoing dependency is shared by other European nations including Belgium, France, Spain, and Portugal, as revealed by a report from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA). Notably, Belgium sourced 40% of its gas from Russia in the first quarter of the current year.
While it remains challenging to determine the exact volume of Russian LNG destined specifically for the Dutch market, a significant portion of these imports arrives at the Rotterdam port before being distributed across Europe. Jilles van den Beukel from The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies expressed surprise at the scale of the imports, noting they were “much larger than I had expected.” The percentage of gas imports from Russia slightly declined from 13% in 2025 but is markedly lower than the 34% recorded in 2022, the year Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began.
The increase in LNG inflow noted in 2025 is attributed to long-term purchasing agreements that are not easily terminated, according to climate and green growth minister Sophie Hermans. In response to these challenges, the IEEFA has urged European countries to enhance their efforts in reducing gas consumption by investing more in renewable energy sources. The organization suggests that such initiatives could cut Europe’s gas consumption by 14% and demand by 23% by the year 2030.
The European Union has outlined plans to ban Russian natural gas imports via sea containers starting in 2027, with pipeline imports to follow suit next spring. In the interim, the Netherlands and other European nations have increasingly turned to the United States for natural gas, which now accounts for 77% of their imports. However, the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz, which facilitates 20% of global liquid gas supplies, has complicated these plans amid ongoing conflicts between Iran and the USA.
Van den Beukel noted that the closure of the Strait of Hormuz has hindered the EU’s ability to effectively ban Russian gas imports and has contributed to rising prices. He speculated that the EU might consider postponing the ban, weighing the risks of tightening the LNG market further against the desire to avoid bolstering Russia’s financial resources. “On the one hand, you don’t want to make the LNG market even tighter, which means more expensive, but on the other hand, you don’t want to fill Putin’s war chest,” he stated.