Germany's LNG share in gas imports rose despite Iran war

The share of imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Germany's terminals rose by comparison with total imports during the first half-year despite the Iran war, according to official figures published on Sunday.

The Federal Network Agency said around 12% came in through North Sea and Baltic Sea terminals, up from 10% in 2025 and 8% in 2024.

The agency said that around 551 terawatt-hours had been imported, of which 67 terawatt-hours came in as LNG by ship.

The Iran war has sharply cut back LNG production in Qatar and transit through the Strait of Hormuz, which previously carried around 20% of global LNG shipments.

Gas from The Gulf "does not play a significant role for German supply, as Germany currently draws its LNG deliveries from the United States," the agency said.

It added that global LNG quantities had reached last year's levels in May 2026 or slightly exceeded them, despite the difficulties in Qatar.

A spokesman for the company that operates the Mukran LNG terminal on the Baltic Sea island of Rügen said there had nevertheless been far-reaching changes in international LNG trade.

"International gas traders have rerouted deliveries intended for Europe to Asia," he said, adding that this had affected certain German terminals.

The state-owned Germany Energy Terminal (DET) operates three terminals on the North Sea coastline. It said they were used to around 72% of capacity in the first half, up from 63% last year.