European Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen said the EU will restart its gas demand aggregation system in the coming weeks to help secure competitive prices and diversified supplies. The bloc will launch a special gas demand aggregation program for companies in Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. The EU is also aiming to quickly increase its imports of LNG from the US, promising to buy $250B worth of American gas annually. The bloc first started pooling commercial gas demand in 2022 to try to replace Russian fuel with alternative supplies in response to Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine. Previously, the EU had matched buyers with gas suppliers who signed contracts. However, the EU was not involved in the negotiations, and the companies did not disclose any details of the signed agreements. The European Union is currently working on a ban on all imports of Russian oil and gas by January 2028.