The European Union (EU) has stockpiled enough natural gas to avoid an energy crisis in the coming months and is now looking for new suppliers to meet European energy needs in the coming years. This is reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Now European gas storage facilities are 95 percent full, but this stock will last only a few months, the newspaper notes. It will not be easy to restore reserves after the refusal of Russian gas. Liquefied natural gas supplies are still insufficient and will not increase until 2026, when additional capacities in the US and Qatar come on line.

According to the publication, several large German companies, including chemical giant BASF and energy firm Uniper have begun negotiations with US LNG exporters. They expect to agree on possible supplies that will begin in the middle of the decade.

Negotiations are complicated by the reluctance of some European companies to enter into long-term gas purchase contracts. This is due to the fact that Germany and some other European countries are preparing to reduce the use of fossil fuels. If these plans succeed, companies with long-term gas contracts will be at a disadvantage.

Handelsblatt previously reported the completion of Germany’s first mobile LNG terminal in the city of Wilhelmshaven. The terminal will start accepting fuel tankers as early as January 2023.