DOHA (Reuters) – Qatar’s energy minister said on Tuesday that neither Qatar nor any other single country had the ability to fill the void or replace Russia’s gas supplies to Europe with liquefied natural gas in the event of a supply disruption due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Tensions escalated between Russia and Ukraine on Tuesday after Moscow ordered its forces to deploy to two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine.
The United States and its Western allies are due to announce new sanctions against Russia after Russian President Vladimir Putin officially recognized the independence of the two regions. The sanctions may affect the flow of Russian gas to Europe.
“I think Russia is responsible for supplying roughly 30-40 percent of supplies to Europe,” Minister Saad al-Kaabi told reporters at a gas conference in Doha. No country alone can compensate for this amount, there is no capacity to do that with regard to LNG.” “Most of the LNG is linked to long-term contracts and the destinations are very clear. Therefore, making up for this amount at this speed is almost impossible.”
Qatar is one of the world’s largest producers of liquefied natural gas, and the United States has recently demanded it divert gas supplies to Europe if Russia attacks Ukraine and the United States imposes sanctions on Moscow.
Al-Kaabi said that for Qatar, the contracts that can be transferred to Europe range from only 10 to 15 percent.
He added, “It is not about whether the quantities are not contracted, but rather whether they are transferable or not, as most of them are tied to long-term contracts. The amount that can be transferred ranges between 10 and 15 percent.
LNG terminals in Europe have limited capacity and cannot absorb additional supplies from the United States or other major producers if gas supplies from Russia are interrupted.
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