Qatar ready to turn its back on Europe and redirect gas supplies somewhere else

Qatar may redirect its EU gas supplied to other states if deemed appropriate, Minister of State for Energy of the emirate, QatarEnergy CEO Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi said.

"Nothing is permanent, and we have the right to do whatever we want with our volumes (of gas)," the minister told Bloomberg.

"But that was a promise that we made for a certain period of time. When it makes sense for us to redirect (supplies), we will do so," he added.

Qatar earlier pledged to refrain from diverting gas supplies from Europe. However, Qatar has the right to do so in accordance with contracts.

In addition, the decision of EU countries to cap oil and gas prices will destroy the market, the minister added.

"… if I am an investor in the oil and gas sector and I intend to make the final investment decision on an oil or gas project, when I sell any product I look at the market, at the EU as a big buyer, but they set a price, a certain price, and then they say that will not buy oil at a price higher than $50," Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi said.

"I'm going to invest ten billion dollars, expecting a return of nine or ten percent, based on a price of $50 per barrel. If the next government does not like the price and they set a price limit at $30, what should I do?" the minister wondered.

Speaking about the idea of ​​capping oil and gas prices, he recommended "striving for peace in Europe" as this would help "drastically reduce prices."

"This is not higher mathematics, everything is obvious," said al-Kaabi.

It is worth noting that the European Union sees Qatar as one of the main sources of energy resources. Qatar is one of the world's largest leaders liquefied natural gas export. Asian markets used to be the largest sales market for Qatar, but today the country ships a significant part of its LNG to Europe.

However, there is more in this than meets the eye. Germany, for example, fails to conclude a gas supplies agreement with Qatar. The sides limit themselves to declarations of intent. Qatar wants long-term contracts only and prohibits Germany from reselling gas. Berlin does not accept such terms.

In addition, there are many officials in Europe who criticise Qatar for human rights violations. This criticism has been getting stronger on the eve of the World Cup, which kicks off in Qatar on November 20.

Under these conditions, the authorities of the emirate, for sure, would like to assess certain aspects of relations with the European Union more carefully. Qatar has all the trump cards.