Europe faces an even bleaker energy crisis next winter after this coming winter depletes gas in storage, Saad Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs of one of the world’s top LNG exporters, Qatar, has told the Financial Times.

The region has had to find alternative supplies, including LNG, but the arrival of multiple cargoes of the superchilled fuel has exposed Europe’s lack of “regasification” capacity, as plants that convert the seaborne fuel back to gas are operating at maximum limit.

Deep divisions among European Union member states emerged on Tuesday as EU officials gathered to discuss the energy crisis and the bloc’s measures to respond to it.

…It is a challenge, but it is also an opportunity for Britain to develop technology that can be sold elsewhere….

Spain has declared an “exceptional operational situation” as several dozen LNG tankers queue for its regasification terminals, significantly exceeding available slots.

New England, which partially relies on LNG imports to cover fuel shortfalls during the winter, could see its power grid exposed to reliability issues that could necessitate rolling outages to ease the strain on the electricity system.

In a twist that could further embarrass Russian President Vladimir Putin, Europe’s gas crisis caused by Russia hampering supply via the Nord Stream pipeline, could be partly resolved by Ukraine.

…its total energy consumption by 2020, according to the IMF. Imports of LNG , mainly from the US, have replaced Russian supplies. Now Zagreb stands to…

…The producers’ interest has been helped by a resurgence in bank lending and by the government, which is subsidising investment and this month opened the application process for more than 100 exploration…

Japan’s cabinet approved Friday bills to revise laws to ensure stable supply and demand of liquefied natural gas in the event of an energy contingency, amid procurement concerns driven by the Russian offensive in Ukraine.