Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi said, on Saturday, that no one can replace Russian gas supplies to Europe, and that his country cannot help in that immediately.
This came in his speech during the session “Transitioning Smoothly: Meeting Energy Demand During the Transition to Green Alternatives”, which was held within the activities of the “Doha Forum”.
Al-Kaabi added, “It is not possible at the present time to replace Russian gas overnight, especially since supplies coming from Russia range between 30 and 40 percent, and that gas projects require many years to enter production.”
He added that Qatar (which is one of the largest exporters of liquefied gas in the world) is “working to pump more gas supplies into Europe through its stations located in France, Italy or the United Kingdom,” noting that the quantities “will remain small compared to what Europe needs.”
Al-Kaabi continued, “We are working to increase the quantities of gas to Europe, whether by increasing the capacity of the stations or by shipping additional quantities from Qatar.”
He said that “the agreement to supply Europe with an additional 15 billion cubic meters from the United States and other countries requires cooperation between all parties to implement it,” stressing that Qatar “plays a key role in securing liquefied natural gas for Europe.”
He pointed out that Qatar “is cooperating with the United States to send 70 million tons of gas to Europe by 2024 and 2025,” noting that his country “has contracts with many countries to supply them with gas, and 85 percent of gas shipments go to Asia.”
He pointed out that “Europe needs 7 or 8 years to secure its energy needs away from Russian sources,” noting that Europe “imports between 40 and 50 percent of its needs from Russia, so Russian gas cannot be replaced overnight.”
Speaking about the desire of European countries to diversify their sources of energy supplies and the accompanying rise in prices, Al-Kaabi added that “it is not possible to formulate long-term plans based on a reaction due to temporary events related to the Russian-Ukrainian war.”
He stressed that “the rise in prices recorded in the global oil and gas market is primarily due to the imbalance between supply and demand, resulting from the lack of investment expenditures in the field, in addition to the war between Russia and Ukraine .”
Al-Kaabi added: “It requires investment to make production stable and continuous.”
And earlier on Saturday, the works of the twentieth edition of the “Doha Forum” began and will last for two days, under the title “Transformation into a New Era”, with the participation of a group of heads of state and government, researchers, thinkers, and study and research centers.
The Doha Forum was established in 2000 as a global dialogue platform that brings together opinion leaders and policymakers around the world to propose innovative and viable solutions. It brings together policymakers, heads of government and states, representatives of the private sector, civil society, and non-governmental organizations.
