European leaders have tried to cut reliance on gas imports from Russia since the Ukraine crisis escalated last year. But Rick Haythornthwaite, Centrica chairman, told "Whatever we might want as Europe, we need to be very careful about being pragmatic about the realities of it... I think it's unrealistic to think that Russian gas is going to be replaced in the near-term."
Iain Conn, Centrica chief executive, added: "Russia supplies... about a third of Europe's gas. You can't switch that off easily without huge consequence. There is no way the United States can supply that volume of LNG to replace it."
If sanctions were imposed on Russian gas companies would have to comply, but it would have "a very significant impact on Europe's ability to balance its natural gas sources and uses", particularly in Eastern Europe.
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