Management of liquefied natural gas distribution based on the logistic infrastructure of European and African countries

Abstract

The Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 prompted European countries to implement economic sanctions against Russia to address the ongoing conflict. In response, Russia resorted to manipulating gas deliveries to Europe, leading to changed contracts, gas flow limitations, and artificial restrictions. Given the importance of reliable energy partners, European countries started urgently developing a plan of action to reduce Russian gas consumption. The existing network of export and import LNG terminals could offer a viable solution for partially replacing Russian gas. This paper focuses on a case study that explores the optimal transportation solution for LNG gas in the Mediterranean Sea region, utilising the existing infrastructure of Europe and Africa. The study formulates the problem as a linear programming transportation task, seeking to minimize costs and maximize efficiency, considering port capacities, gas demands of individual countries, and distances between transportation points. Additionally, the paper considers the scalability of the proposed optimisation task to accommodate changing energy demands and supply patterns.