European countries plan gas deal with Arab states

European countries plan gas deal with Arab states

On Saturday, March 19, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said he plans to visit Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to study the liquefied natural gas (LNG) market. In order to reduce Germany's energy dependence on Russia, the country is considering the option of concluding a deal with the Arab states.

At the moment, according to the German Ministry of Economy, Russia is the largest supplier of gas. Since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the country has been looking for ways to get gas from other suppliers. In this regard, it was decided to reorient to the countries of the Arab world.

However, it was previously stated that neither Qatar nor any other country is in a position to replace Russian gas supplies to Europe with liquefied natural gas in case of interruptions.

Qatar's Energy Minister confirmed this statement during a conference in Doha, noting that about 30-40% of Russia's gas exports go to Europe. The volume of forwarded contracts that can be sent to Europe is only 10-15%.