Latest news with #gas supplies
Asharq Al-Awsat
5 days ago
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Qatar Threatened to Cut Gas Supplies to Europe
Qatar has threatened to cut gas supplies to the European Union in response to the bloc's due diligence law on forced labor and environmental damage, a letter from Qatar to the Belgian government, seen by Reuters, showed. Qatar is the world's third-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), after the United States and Australia. It has provided between 12% and 14% of Europe's LNG since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. In a letter to the Belgian government dated May 21, Qatari Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi said the country was reacting to the EU's corporate sustainability due diligence directive (CSDDD), which requires larger companies operating in the EU to find and fix human rights and environmental issues in their supply chains. 'Put simply, if further changes are not made to CSDDD, the State of Qatar and QatarEnergy will have no choice but to seriously consider alternative markets outside of the EU for our LNG and other products, which offer a more stable and welcoming business environment,' said the letter. A spokesperson for Belgium's representation to the EU declined to comment on the letter, which was first reported by German newspaper Welt am Sonntag. The European Commission also received a letter from Qatar, dated May 13, a Commission spokesperson told Reuters, noting that EU lawmakers and countries are currently negotiating changes to the CSDDD. 'It is now for them to negotiate and adopt the substantive simplification changes proposed by the Commission,' the spokesperson said. Brussels proposed changes to the CSDDD earlier this year to reduce its requirements - including by delaying its launch by a year, to mid-2028, and limiting the checks companies will have to make down their supply chains. Companies that fail to comply could face fines of up to 5% of global turnover. Qatar said the EU's changes had not gone far enough. In the letter, Kaabi said Qatar was particularly concerned about the CSDDD's requirement for companies have a climate change transition plan aligned with preventing global warming exceeding 1.5 Celsius - the goal of the Paris Agreement. 'Neither the State of Qatar nor QatarEnergy have any plans to achieve net zero in the near future,' said the letter, which said the CSDDD undermined countries' right to set their own national contributions towards the Paris Agreement goals. In an annex to the letter, also seen by Reuters, Qatar proposed removing the section of CSDDD which includes the requirement for climate transition plans. Qatar is seeking to play a larger role in Asia and Europe as competition from the world's biggest supplier the United Sates increases. Last December, Qatar's Energy Minister told the Financial Times, 'If the case is that I lose 5% of my generated revenue by going to Europe, I will not go to Europe. I'm not bluffing.' Al-Kaabi said, 'Five percent of generated revenue of QatarEnergy means 5% of generated revenue of the Qatar state. This is the people's money, so I cannot lose that kind of money - and nobody would accept losing that kind of money.'
Asharq Al-Awsat
12-07-2025
- Business
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Gazprom, CNPC Discuss Future Russian Gas Supplies to China
The heads of Russia's Gazprom and China's energy company CNPC discussed future Russian gas supplies to China during talks in Beijing, Gazprom said on Friday, as Moscow seeks stronger ties with the world's biggest energy consumer. Russia, the holder of world's largest gas reserves, has diverted oil supplies from Europe to India and China since the start of the conflict in Ukraine in February 2022, Reuters said. At the same time, Russia's diversification of pipeline natural gas from the European Union has been slow. It started gas exports to China via the Power of Siberia pipeline in the end of 2019 and plans to reach the pipeline's annual exporting capacity of 38 billion cubic meters this year. Russia and China have also agreed on exports of 10 bcm of gas from Russia's Pacific island of Sakhalin starting from 2027. However, years of talks about the Power of Siberia 2 pipeline, which would ship 50 bcm of gas per year to China via Mongolia, have yet to be concluded as the two sides disagree over issues such as the gas price. Russian President Vladimir Putin is set to travel to China in early September to participate in celebrations marking the anniversary of the victory over Japan in World War II. The trip follows Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Moscow in May.
