European countries will eventually resume their imports of Russian gas, believes the Minister of Energy of Qatar, a country among the largest exporters of this hydrocarbon. According to him, the current market volatility should continue.
Towards a return to favor, in the long term, of Russian gas in Europe? Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, head of the national company Qatar Energy (ex-Qatar Petroleum) and also Qatari energy minister, is convinced of this. “Russian gas will come back, in my opinion, to Europe” even if it now has “a much greater diversity” of sources of supply, he declared on January 14 at a forum on energy. in Abu Dhabi.
European countries have largely restricted their supply of Russian gas following Moscow launched its military intervention in Ukraine on February 24, 2022. A conflict that has aggravated tensions in the global energy market, caused by the economic recovery post -Covid.
“Things recover over time”, says the Qatari minister
“The Europeans say today that it is out of the question” but “things are repaired over time”, added the Qatari official.
Gazprom’s gas exports to the European Union (EU) and Switzerland have fallen 55% in 2022, according to the Russian energy giant, with Europe previously its main market. This month, the wholesale price of natural gas in Europe fell to its lowest level since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, thanks to a mild winter which helped to save stocks. But analysts warn of market unpredictability.
“The situation will remain volatile for some time,” said Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, saying that the problem of restocking will arise once more in 2024 in Europe.
Russia still open to resuming exports to Europe
Particularly sought following by Western chancelleries since the outbreak of the conflict between kyiv and Moscow, the Gulf emirate, which before the crisis was already at the maximum of its liquefied natural gas (LNG) production capacities, exports mainly to Asian countries. . Germany, the largest consumer of Russian gas in Europe, signed an agreement with Doha at the end of November for the delivery – from 2026 – of “up to 2 million tonnes of LNG per year”, i.e. less than a tenth of what was provided by Russia in 2021.
At the end of December, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak had reiterated that his country remained ready to resume its gas supplies from the Member States of the European Union. This despite the “large-scale campaign”, launched once morest Russia, “which ended in acts of sabotage once morest the Nord Stream pipelines”.
To compensate for their restrictions on the import of Russian natural gas, the countries of the European Union in 2022 imported 155 billion cubic meters of LNG. A jump of 60%, compared to 2021, which made the United States the leading supplier of the Old Continent and the world’s leading exporter of LNG, ahead of Qatar, which occupies second place. On the third step of the podium of the largest LNG suppliers to Europeans, Russia, whose exports of liquefied natural gas to the EU increased by 12% in 2022.
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