EU energy chief says 'growing concern' over dependency on US gas

EU energy commissioner Dan Jorgensen said Wednesday that there were increasing worries over Europe becoming too dependent on the United States for liquefied natural gas, after President Donald Trump's threats over Greenland rocked allies.

"Geopolitical turmoil in the wake of the crisis in Greenland has been a wake-up call," Jorgensen told journalists in Brussels.

As the EU slashes its imports of Russian energy, "there is a growing concern, which I share, that we risk replacing one dependency with another", he said.

The former Danish energy minister said Brussels was "looking for alternatives" such as Canada, Qatar and countries in North Africa that could ramp up supplies to the bloc.

"I will in the coming months be conducting several meetings with many of the countries that are relevant and also some visits to these countries with the aim of improving our relations," he said.

Last year the United States made up for just under 60 percent of the bloc's LNG imports.

Jorgensen said "it has never been our policy to trade less with the US -- we do not want trade conflicts".

But Europe risks enraging Trump if it now looks to diversify away from the United States, as vows to buy huge amounts of fossil fuels were a key part of a trade deal struck by the two sides last year.

As part of the agreement, the 27-nation EU said its companies were aiming to purchase energy worth $750 billion from the United States over three years.

Trump plunged the transatlantic alliance into crisis this month by threatening to seize the autonomous territory of Greenland from EU member Denmark -- before abruptly backing off.