Despite fierce criticism of human rights violations in Qatar, agreements are still underway with the country for the supply of natural gas. Germany has now entered into agreements with the oil state for the annual supply of two million tons of LNG. The gas is intended to replace part of Russia’s cut-off gas flows in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and sanctions against Moscow.
State-owned energy company Qatar Energy and ConocoPhillips have signed an agreement to extract and ship gas to Germany. The contract will run for at least 15 years, Qatar’s Energy Minister Saad Sherida al-Kaabi said.
It is the first long-term contract between Qatar and Germany. This also includes discussions with market parties regarding additional deliveries. The gas will come from the ConocoPhillips joint ventures in Qatar and will be delivered to the Brunsbuttel floating import terminal under construction.
Germany correspondent Guy Hoeks points out that the deal is good for only “a fraction of what the Germans previously received from Russia”. ‘However, little is known about costs. This is a long-term contract, but it was mostly done under pressure from the industry. They don’t want volatile prices, which they have had to contend with due to gas pinch-offs from Russia.’
New resources
Germany is diligently looking for new sources of gas. The country has already set up floating import facilities for importing LNG. These should be installed in the next few years. Once all five plants are operational, they will account for a third of Germany’s current gas demand, according to Berlin estimates.
Germany is the epicenter of the European energy crisis. Germany’s heavy dependence on Russia became painfully apparent when the Kremlin cut off gas supplies. This was in retaliation for the sanctions against Moscow for the war in Ukraine. Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government had already taken a series of measures to secure gas supplies to get through the winter.
Source: BNR
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