By Arathy Somasekhar and Georgina McCartney

HOUSTON, March 19 (Reuters) - Europe will need to come

up with more infrastructure if it is to replace Russian gas as

thoroughly has it has crude oil, oil and gas executives said at

an energy conference on Tuesday.

Europe's pipeline gas imports from Russia have dropped since

Moscow's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and the European Commission

has called for nations to end its reliance on Russian fossil

fuels by 2027.

But European Union countries have avoided sanctioning or

banning imports of Russian gas or its liquefied natural gas

(LNG). Some countries including Austria and Hungary remain

significant buyers of the Russian fuel.

"Redirecting liquefied natural gas and building regas

terminals are not long term solutions, Exxon Mobil ( XOM ) Vice

President John Ardill said at the CERAWeek energy conference."

The company has discovered natural gas in the Eastern

Mediterranean and expects to begin an exploration drilling

program next year, Ardill added.

"The infrastructure has not been there and is still not

there. At this stage, Europe really could not cut off LNG," said

Gunvor Chairman Torbjörn Törnqvist in separate remarks at the

conference.

"Unlike in oil, Europe is a little bit more pragmatic when

it comes to receiving Russian gas," Tornqvist said.

Gunvor continues to fulfill its long term contract to supply

Russian LNG to Europe, but there is no room for Russian spot

market LNG volumes, he said.

(Reporting by Arathy Somasekhar in Houston)