Qatar: It is ‘almost impossible’ to quickly replace Russian gas supplies to Europe

Neither Qatar nor any other country has the potential to replace Russian gas supplies to Europe with liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the event of a conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Qatari energy minister said on Tuesday. the Reuters agency.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalated on Tuesday as Moscow sent troops to Donetsk and Lugansk after recognizing their independence.

The United States and its European allies are expected to announce new sanctions against Russia following Putin’s formal recognition of the two regions’ independence in eastern Ukraine. These sanctions could affect Russia’s flow of gas to Europe. It is noted that recently German Chancellor Olaf Solz announced the “freezing” of the certification of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

“I think Russia provides 30-40% of Europe’s supply. There is no single country that can replace this volume, there is no capacity for a country with LNG to do that,” Saad al-Kaabi told journalists at the Doha Gas Conference.

“Most of the LNG is associated with long-term contracts and destinations that are very clear. Thus, replacing this volume so quickly is almost impossible,” he added.

Qatar, one of the world’s leading LNG producers, was recently approached by the United States to launch gas supplies to Europe in the event of Russia attacking Ukraine and Washington imposing sanctions on Moscow.

Qatar has most of its quantities “locked in” with long-term contracts mainly to Asian buyers, but it also sends cargo to Europe.

Kaabi said that for Qatar the amount of convertible contracts that can be sent to Europe is only 10-15%.

Europe’s LNGs have limited capacity to absorb additional supply from the US or other major producers in the event of a gas outage if Russia invades Ukraine.