The crisis between Russia and Western countries in Ukraine has contributed to a surge in gas prices, a sector where Russia poses a threat to supplies in Europe. In this context, Qatar is called upon to compensate for a possible disruption of deliveries.
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After Afghanistan last summer, where the emirate played a crucial role in the evacuation of Westerners and Afghans fleeing the Taliban, Qatar is now called upon to help in the energy component of the Russian- Ukrainian. You should know that this confetti state of the Persian Gulf is the world’s largest producer and exporter of liquefied gas (LNG). To export its LNG all over the world, it has a gigantic fleet of LNG carriers.
Windfall effect, with this Ukrainian crisis and its consequences on energy prices, the emirate will become even richer than it already was. Qatar has already made it known that it is ready to help Europe. It already supplies 5% of the European market, a figure to be compared with Russia’s 40% market share on the Old Continent. Emir Tamim was recently received by Joe Biden at the White House. It is no coincidence that the American president announced that he was granting Qatar the official status of “major non-NATO ally”, a legal qualification that the United States has granted to only 17 countries in the world. In short, in Washington as in the European capitals, we count on Doha to play the firefighters on the gas market. But Qatar does not have a magic wand to solve all of Europe’s energy problems.
The Emirate is already at maximum production capacity. And above all, it must honor the long-term contracts it has signed with its customers in Asia, in particular China, Japan and South Korea. The gas market is not as responsive as the oil market, where exporting countries can rapidly increase production and meet demand, as Saudi Arabia regularly does.
This means that Qatar will be able to give a momentary boost, by redirecting a small part of its deliveries from Asia to Europe. But this also means that the energy bill is likely to rise a little more, while consumers are already complaining of paying dearly for their consumption. The only solution to set up an alternative supply to Russia would be to sign sustainable long-term contracts with Doha or other major gas-exporting countries.
In this tense energy panorama, there is Iran, which shares a huge pocket of gas with Qatar and which could, in the long term, relieve the world gas market with the resumption of its exports. But we still have to settle another worrying crisis which threatens regional stability: that of the nuclear issue, the outcome of which is being played out in Vienna at the moment.