Major European gas traders look to the US for stability in the LNG market

Although the Biden administration has concerns about approval to build new liquefied natural gas export terminals, the world is happy that the United States is a stable supplier of liquefied natural gas fuel.

This is the opinion of Benjamin Lakatos, founder, chairman and CEO of MET Group, Europe’s integrated energy trader, power producer and green power developer.

“Especially since the beginning of the Ukraine war in February 2022, between 30 and 50 percent of the European Union’s gas supply is LNG,” Lakatos said by phone from his headquarters in the Swiss canton of Zug.

Lakatos told me: “As a European, I have a pragmatic approach. It is in the continent’s interest that more of his LNG comes to Europe at affordable prices.”

Over the past two years, “the United States has had a stabilizing effect on global gas prices in the midst of severe turmoil,” he said.

That doesn’t mean gas will not be phased out, but Lakatos said gas will continue to grow in Europe over the next 20 to 25 years, especially as a transitional fuel for home heating, peak electricity demand, and balancing. It was predicted that it would become an essential fuel. Weather-dependent (intermittent) renewable electricity generation. He said gas consumption in Europe was down 8% in 2023 compared to 2022 and 20% compared to 2021.

Agreement with Commonwealth LNG

MET Group has a 20-year contract with Commonwealth LNG, which is building a terminal in Louisiana and plans to begin exporting within three years. Although the MET Group has purchased LNG from the United States in the past, this is the first time it has entered into a long-term contract.

MET Group is one of Europe’s fastest growing and most dynamic energy companies, with offices in 14 countries and Singapore and active in 30 global gas markets. Lakatos originated the idea for his MET Group in Hungary in 2007 and currently still owns gas-fired power generation in Hungary.

As the company grew and became more of an energy conglomerate, it moved to Switzerland in 2012.

The company is heavily involved in gas trading, which accounts for most of its annual revenue of more than $44 billion (2022), but it also has a green power subsidiary. It operates six solar farms in Hungary, one solar farm in Spain and two wind farms in Bulgaria. Various other projects are also underway in Italy, Germany, Romania, Poland and Switzerland. It also operates gas storage facilities in Germany.

But what MET Group is best known for is Gastrader. The company has about 1,000 staff and purchases LNG from the United States, but it does not yet have onshore operations.

MET Group is focused on retaining its staff. With offices across Europe and abroad, diverse backgrounds are the norm. Mr. Lakatos proudly says that he has employees of over 50 nationalities in his company. He was born in Hungary and educated at Budapest and the State University of New York.

Lakatos is a lively man who talks about energy with obvious enthusiasm. He is ecumenical in his enthusiasm for energy, and there is virtue in all fuels.

Many in the energy industry have engineering backgrounds, but he’s in finance. This enabled us to identify and seize opportunities during a period of change and excitement in the European energy market during the 2000s. Currently, MET Group is one of Europe’s largest privately held energy companies.

Mr. Lakatos told me, “I have three children, a daughter, a son, and a MET.” He is the company’s largest shareholder, with most of the remaining shares held by the company’s roughly 90 executives, with Singapore-listed company Keppel holding 10%.

Most of Mr. Lakatos’ ideas about the future are surprisingly consistent with the general energy philosophy that prevails in the United States.

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as a transition fuel

For example, he believes gas is the transition fuel to a future green economy. In many countries, nuclear power is an essential power source for Europe’s future. The construction of his LNG terminals in the European Union is complete and there is no need for further FID. And if green hydrogen is to play a significant role in the future, its costs must be significantly reduced.

The United States is now the world’s largest exporter of LNG, a position it has achieved in just a few years. Before the hydraulic fracturing boom turned gas production around, the country was envisioned as an importing country, and terminals like Cove Point in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay were built to facilitate gas imports. Cove Point was originally a landing point for Algerian LNG, but was converted and expanded as an export terminal and remains in operation today.

When I asked Mr. Lakatos if he thought a hydraulic fracturing boom could occur in Europe like the United States and completely change the European market, he firmly replied, “No.” There are no resources and no public support. Those in charge of the MET Group should know. He has grown a significant company with his knowledge of gas.