Qatar’s Emir meets Joe Biden today to discuss increasing gas supplies to Europe to offset reliance on Russia — the timing couldn’t be more perfect for Qatar amidst already high gas prices and large volumes long-term available for sale.
Qatar Natural Gas Production
Source: IEA
Qatar’s Emir is travelling to Washington today to meet Joe Biden, with gas supplies to Europe topping the agenda.
The US has requested Qatar to increase gas supplies to Europe, at the expense of other Qatari customers, in order to stave of EU dependence on Russian supplies.
Qatar typically supplies around 5% of Europe’s gas, compared with around 40% from Russia.
A deal is likely to come off with Europe committing to more gas from Qatar for the long term, requiring investment in LNG import terminals.
On both counts, this will be costly for Europe but with the increasingly critical political dividend of less reliance on Russia.
Sticking points could be Qatar’s need to maintain good relations with Russia owing to investments in Rosneft and transport infrastructure.
The timing of the tensions could not be more perfect for Qatar – gas prices are already inflated and Qatar needs to offload huge volumes of gas from long-term contracts that are expiring and from the expansion of its gas production, expected to come on-stream in 2025-26.
