Evidence from 2023 shows that Europe did remain heavily reliant on U.S. LNG as a direct consequence of the Ukraine war and the rapid build‑out of LNG import capacity, and that U.S. gas exporters were major economic beneficiaries.

On dependence:

• EU LNG imports surged after Russia’s 2022 invasion; in 2023 the EU imported about 134 bcm of LNG, which made up roughly 42% of total EU gas imports, more than double LNG’s share in 2021. (aa.com.tr)
• Across all LNG suppliers, the United States was again the largest by far: in 2023 it supplied about 48% of all LNG imported by Europe (EU‑27 plus UK), the third consecutive year it was number one. (theuncontained.com)
• An EU quarterly gas‑market report for Q1 2023 similarly found that LNG already accounted for about 42% of EU gas imports, with the U.S. providing 41.5% of that LNG — by far the biggest single source. (energy.ec.europa.eu)
• Norway remained the largest pipeline supplier, but by 2023 the U.S. had become the second‑largest overall gas supplier to the EU, underlining how central U.S. LNG became in the post‑Ukraine‑war supply mix. (consilium.europa.eu)

On rapid LNG terminal build‑out:

• ACER’s monitoring and other analyses report that since 2022 the EU added over 50 bcm of new LNG import capacity, with total regasification capacity on track to be more than one‑third higher in 2024 than in 2021. Germany in particular went from zero LNG capacity in 2021 to around 13 bcm by end‑2023, thanks largely to fast‑tracked floating terminals. (aa.com.tr)

On the U.S. gas industry as a major winner:

• By 2023 the United States had become the world’s largest LNG exporter; U.S. LNG export volumes hit record levels and total U.S. natural‑gas exports (pipeline plus LNG) rose 12% year‑on‑year, with Europe taking nearly half of U.S. LNG exports. (en.wikipedia.org)
• Watchdogs and analysts explicitly describe U.S. LNG firms as earning “massive profits” from selling gas to Europe at crisis‑elevated prices after the invasion, framing them as major beneficiaries of Europe’s pivot away from Russian pipeline gas. (citizen.org)

The literal phrase “completely dependent on American natural gas” is hyperbolic, since Europe also relied heavily on Norwegian pipeline gas and non‑U.S. LNG (Qatar, Russia, Algeria, etc.). But the normalized version of the prediction—that in 2023 Europe would remain heavily dependent on U.S. LNG because of the Ukraine war and fast‑tracked terminals, and that this would make the U.S. gas industry a major economic winner—is well supported by the 2023 data, so the prediction counts as right overall.