Soaring gas prices are due to a lack of investment in the sector, said HE the Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad Sherida al-Kaabi.
“Everything that is going on today in pricing is fundamentally because of a lack of investments and that will take time to catch up,” he said at a press conference on the sidelines of the 6th GECF Summit of Heads of State and Government of GECF Member Countries on Tuesday.
Al-Kaabi noted that neither Qatar nor any other single country has the capacity to replace Russian gas supplies to Europe with liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the event of a disruption.
“Russia (provides) I think 30-40% of the supply to Europe. There is no single country that can replace that kind of volume, there isn’t the capacity to do that from LNG,” minister Saad al-Kaabi told reporters at a gas conference in Doha.
“Most of the LNG is tied to long-term contracts and destinations that are very clear. So, to replace that sum of volume that quickly is almost impossible,” al-Kaabi said.
Qatar’s supplies are also tied up in long-term contracts, many with Asian countries including Japan, South Korea, India and China.
Russia accounts for about 40% of the European market and Qatar 5%, according to AFP.
The minister clarified that for Qatar the amount of divertible contracts that can be shipped to Europe is only 10-15%.
“It’s not that something is not contracted, the question is, is it divertible or not? And the majority is tied up to long-term contracts. The divertible volume is probably 10-15%,” he said.
Al-Kaabi said Qatar is working to support Lebanon with its energy supply long-term using liquified natural gas.
The minister said “he was aware of and happy with Egypt’s short-term solution, which would help the country gain access to natural gas utilising the network of pipelines.”
Egypt is currently able to export 1bn – 1.2bn cubic feet of natural gas a day from its two liquefaction plants on the Mediterranean, said the country’s Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources Tarek El Molla.
El Molla also spoke about his country’s efforts at helping Lebanon, which is facing a huge energy crisis.
Gas Exporting Countries Forum secretary-general Mohamed Hamel said that the demand for natural gas has grown by some 23% since the first summit of the Forum, held in Doha in 2011.
Hamel stressed the importance of natural gas as a type of clean energy in promoting sustainable development and ensuring a secure and stable energy future, with its contribution to reducing environmental damage.
He underlined the fact that the convening of the sixth summit in Doha was an indication of the importance that different countries attached to the forum, as well as to the co-operation among its countries to ensure supply.
Source: Gulf Times