Status: 11/29/2022 10:31 a.m
Qatar and Germany have agreed on a supply contract for liquefied natural gas. The emirate intends to supply two million tons of LNG annually for at least 15 years. Economics Minister Habeck was satisfied.
According to the Qatar government, the energy giant Qatar Energy has concluded an agreement on the supply of liquefied natural gas to Germany. The gas is to be sold to the US company Conoco Phillips, which will deliver it to Brunsbüttel, said Qatari Energy Minister Saad Sharida al-Kaab. Delivery is scheduled to begin in 2026 and run for at least 15 years. Up to two million tons are to be delivered annually.
Al-Kaabi said it was the first long-term agreement to supply liquid natural gas to Germany. They contribute to the long-term energy security of the country, but also of Europe. “This is a concrete demonstration (…) of our commitment to the Germans,” said the minister. The head of Conoco Phillips, Ryan Lance, added that the gas should be marketed to various buyers in Germany.
Qatar Energy is also in talks with German companies regarding further gas deliveries, al-Kaabi explained. “We have good relations with German companies and with the German government,” he said. The gas for the agreement that has now been concluded comes from the two Qatari gas fields North Field East and North Field South, which lie off the coast of the Gulf state.
Habeck: “15 years is great”
Federal Minister of Economics Robert Habeck considers the duration of the supply contract to be a good time frame. “15 years is great,” he said. There might have been longer contracts. Because of the planned climate neutrality in Germany from 2045, the quantities would then have to be smaller and smaller. From 2040 at the latest, gas consumption should go down and other forms of energy should become dominant.
Federal Minister of Economics Habeck during his visit to Qatar in the spring.
Bild: picture alliance/dpa
Habeck did not want to comment on specific details of the deal. The contracts are a matter for the company. Habeck said the cheapest deals on the world market should be bought. “That includes Qatar, but it’s not the only supplier on the world market either.”
In the spring, the minister traveled to Qatar to hold talks on supply relationships. At that time, Habeck defended the purchase of energy in autocracies. The visit was part of efforts to reduce Germany’s dependence on Russian gas in the face of Russia’s war of aggression once morest Ukraine. Against this background, according to Habeck, Germany will not only be able to work together with democracies in the future to cover its energy requirements.
German gas storage facilities are almost full
The German gas storage facilities are currently almost full. But liquefied natural gas should make an additional contribution, Habeck speaks of a “central building block for securing our energy supply in the coming winter”.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz said just last week that the purchase of liquefied natural gas in Qatar is not off the table. “German companies are in very concrete talks regarding which I might tell you more than I will,” said Scholz in a “Focus” interview.
Germany is trying to replace missing gas supplies from Russia, among other things, with LNG supplies, for which several terminals are being built on the North and Baltic Seas. Qatar is one of the world’s largest exporters of liquefied natural gas. The rich emirate has the third largest gas reserves in the world following Russia and Iran. Qatar shares the world’s largest gas field with Iran, located off the country’s coast. The vast majority of exports go to Asia, so far primarily to Japan, South Korea and India.
