European Energy Giants Sign Deals to Buy American LNG

The Trump administration has been pushing the EU to buy more gas from the United States to balance overall trade.

President Donald Trump signs an executive order after delivering remarks on reciprocal tariffs during an event in the Rose Garden titled "Make America Wealthy Again" at the White House on April 2, 2025. Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Italian energy company Eni has inked an agreement to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States, the company said in a July 16 statement.

“Eni will purchase 2 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) for 20 years with offtake starting by the end of the decade,” the company said.

LNG will be supplied from phase 1 of Virginia-based Venture Global’s CP2 LNG terminal facility.

“The facility, with a peak production capacity of 28 MTPA, is currently under development in Cameron Parish, Louisiana,” the company said.

“The agreement is Eni’s first long term LNG supply from the United States and represents a significant milestone in Eni’s strategy to expand and diversify its global LNG footprint.”

According to a July 16 statement from Venture, CP2 LNG is the company’s third project, with phase 1 having already resulted in sales of roughly 13.5 MTPA of LNG.

“Italy is an important ally and trading partner to the United States, and we are grateful for the trust of Eni as our newest customer,” said Venture Global CEO Mike Sabel.

Meanwhile, Venture also recently entered into an agreement with Germany-based Securing Energy for Europe GmbH (SEFE), according to a July 9 statement.

Under the deal, the two entities will amend an existing sales and purchase agreement signed in 2023. The update involves Venture supplying an additional 0.75 MTPA of LNG from CP2 LNG to SEFE’s subsidiary.

In April, President Donald Trump said the EU needs to buy billions of dollars worth of gas from the United States as part of balancing trade between the two regions.

“The European Union’s been really tough over the years. We have a [trade] deficit with the European Union of $350 billion, and it’s going to disappear fast,” he said at the time.

“And one of the ways that that can disappear easily and quickly is they’re going to have to buy our energy from us. ... They can buy it, we can knock off $350 billion in one week.”

According to a June 12 update by the European Council, the EU had a trade surplus of 50 billion euros ($58 billion) against the United States in 2024, for both goods and services combined. In goods alone, the EU had a trade surplus of 198 billion euros ($229 billion) with America.

The LNG sales deals come amid stagnant trade negotiations between the United States and the European Union.

Trump recently announced that 30 percent tariffs would be applied to imports from the EU beginning Aug. 1.

Meanwhile, the European Commission has proposed a second list of U.S. imports worth around 72 billion euros (about $84 billion) that could be targeted for tariffs.

Maros Sefcovic, the EU’s commissioner for trade, told reporters on July 14 that the 30 percent U.S. tariff on EU imports was “absolutely unacceptable” and “absolutely prohibitive to any trade.”

While EU ministers would prefer to reach a trade deal with the United States, the bloc will implement new tariffs on American goods if negotiations fail, he said.

In his letter to EU leadership detailing the Aug. 1 tariffs, Trump said 30 percent was “far less” than what is required to eliminate America’s trade imbalance with the EU.

The president called on the European Union to eliminate any tariffs imposed on American products and allow full market access to U.S. companies. He said the tariff rate would be modified, higher or lower, depending on the relationship between the trade partners.