As the US promised to boost the amount of gas it delivers to the UK, Rishi Sunak and Joe Biden formed a new alliance to reduce global reliance on Russian exports.
In order to collaborate on energy security and affordability, the prime minister and president decided to form a special bilateral committee under the direction of top No. 10 and White House officials.
As part of the agreement, Washington will strive to export at least nine to ten billion cubic metres of liquified natural gas to Britain’s terminals over the course of the following year, which is more than double the quantity exported in 2021.
Mr. Sunak applauded the new alliance and claimed that it will aid in lowering gas and power costs for Britons who are battling with skyrocketing energy costs.
“Together the UK and US will ensure that the security of our national supply and the global price of energy can never again be controlled by the whims of a failing dictatorship,” the prime minister declared.
“This partnership will lower prices for British customers and help permanently remove Europe’s reliance on Russian energy,” he continued.
It comes after a G7 agreement to cap the price of Russian oil as the West works to reduce Moscow’s capacity to fund its protracted conflict in Ukraine.
Only when Russian oil falls within the price cap is it permitted to be transported to third-party nations by G7 and EU tankers, insurance firms, and financial institutions.
The PM and president stated in their joint statement that it is “more crucial than ever” for allies to collaborate in order to create “resilient international systems,” citing the conflict in Ukraine.
The US-UK project seeks to create support for speeding the switch to renewable energy while having as its “immediate goal” the stabilisation of global energy markets.
This will entail encouraging international investment in clean hydrogen energy, offshore wind, and carbon capture as well as promoting nuclear energy as a “safe” and “reliable” component of the transition.
The joint action group for the partnership will hold its first virtual meeting on Thursday, but Mr. Sunak and Mr. Biden are not anticipated to participate.
In an effort to strengthen commercial ties after Brexit, Britain’s trade minister Greg Hands is currently touring the US.
With South Carolina, Mr. Hands will sign the third state-level “memorandum of understanding” for the UK after earlier this year’s agreements with Indiana and North Carolina.
Although the government claimed the accords will open up new opportunities for British businesses, they are much less comprehensive than the transatlantic free trade pact that Brexit supporters have hailed as one of the key advantages of leaving the EU.
The ongoing dispute between the UK and the EU over the Northern Ireland protocol has caused Mr. Biden to express worry in the past, and Mr. Sunak and Mr. Biden did not discuss the possibility of a trade agreement during their one-on-one meetings at the G20 summit in Bali last month.
