Qatar demands that its gas cannot be reshipped to other European countries from Germany

Qatar hinders negotiations on gas supplies to Germany with Algeria-like conditions

photo_camera Qatar News Agency via REUTERS - Saad Sharida al-Kaabi, Ministro de Energía de Qatar, se reúne con el Ministro de Economía alemán Robert Habeck, en Doha

Sources close to the negotiations between Germany and Qatar over a liquefied gas supply deal told Reuters that the talks are reportedly deadlocked because of conditions imposed by Doha.  

The Qatari delegation demanded as a condition that its gas transported to Germany cannot be sold or redirected to other countries, which is a red line for the European Union. Germany, which is heavily dependent on Russian gas, has been seeking solutions to its supply problems since the beginning of the conflict in Ukraine. These conditions imposed in the negotiations are similar to those Algeria uses in its threats against Spain over the reverse use of the Tarifa-Tangier pipeline. 

transporte gas

Germany is also seeking a long-term agreement, at least 20 years, with the aim of restructuring its energy policy and reducing carbon emissions. After the formation of the new German government in October, with the Greens in the coalition government, the ecological transition has become more important than ever for Berlin. 

Negotiations began in March 2022 with a visit by German finance minister and vice-chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) to Doha in the hope of being able to move this long-term solution forward. Since then, little has been heard about progress in the negotiations. At the time of going to press, neither the Qatari authorities nor the German economy ministry had clarified the Reuters report or issued a statement on the matter. 

Neither has the head of the German government, Socialist Olaf Scholz, nor the foreign minister and leader of the Greens, Annalena Baerbock. 

grafico gas

Time is running out for German leaders. The war in Ukraine seems to be dragging on and there are no signs that hostilities will cease in the short or medium term. The restructuring of the energy market will not be momentary. Qatar is the world's largest gas exporter and its companies already had agreements with Germany to supply gas.

Robert Habeck also looked to the United Arab Emirates as one of the possible solutions to Germany's energy problems. The UAE has positioned itself in recent years as a world leader in green hydrogen, an attractive alternative for the German government's clean and sustainable goals. Germany consumes around 100 billion cubic metres of gas annually, almost half of which comes from Russia. 

Meanwhile, Russia is once again putting the screws on Europe and on Thursday announced the closure of the Gazprom pipeline that transported gas to Polynesia. The Yamal-Europe pipeline has been shut down in response to EU sanctions against Russia, the gas company Gazprom said in a statement on the Telegram messaging channel. 
 

gas

Economists quoted by the German media DW estimate that, since the start of the war in Ukraine, European countries have bought up to 13 billion euros worth of Russian gas. A sum that goes directly into the Kremlin's coffers and indirectly finances the invasion of Ukraine. 

Despite this, central and northern EU countries are still unable to completely sever their relationship with Russian gas. The European Commission's sanctions have so far punished Russian coal and steel, but are unable to touch gas, even though it is the ultimate target of the sanctions, as the French Secretary of State for the European Union has confirmed several times.

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