U.S. exceeds Russian exports

For the first time, the U.S. is supplying more natural gas to Europe than Russia sends by pipelines, according to the International Energy Agency.

Europe is seeking alternatives, such as U.S. liquefied natural gas, to Russian supplies after Gazprom PJSC slashed shipments through Nord Stream, its biggest pipeline to Europe, and cut off shipments to countries that didn’t comply with new payment terms.

Russia met more than a third of the European Union’s gas demand last year.

“Russia’s recent steep cuts in natural gas flows to the EU mean this is the first month in history in which the EU has imported more gas via LNG from the US than via pipeline from Russia,” IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said in a tweet.

“The drop in Russian supply calls for efforts to reduce EU demand to prepare for a tough winter.”

The increase in U.S. LNG imports comes as the nation ramps up output of the super-chilled fuel after starting exports from the Gulf Coast in 2016transforming global energy trade.

TikTok responds to data concerns

Video app TikTok, in a letter to nine U.S. senators who accused it of monitoring U.S. citizens, said it is working to meet concerns over its data-sharing practices.

The Chinese-owned app aims “to strengthen data security around U.S. user data,” TikTok Chief Executive Officer Shou Zi Chew said in the June 30 letter obtained by Bloomberg News.

The process involves work with Oracle and Booz Allen Hamilton Holding, Chew said.

Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee said Friday that the letter demonstrates why TikTok executives need to testify before lawmakers and explain its relationship to the ruling Chinese Communist Party.

From wire reports