Minister’s trip for new contracts
According to Habeck, Qatar has “potential” as a new gas supplier
03/18/2022, 5:38 p.m
In order to quickly make Germany independent of Russian gas supplies, politicians are looking for new sources. Economics Minister Habeck is optimistic – he is conducting a “sum” of talks. While he travels to Qatar, industry preparations are underway, just in case.
Before his trip to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck was optimistic that he would be able to win new gas suppliers for Europe. “Our main goal is to set up LNG terminals in Germany – they need new contracts and I’m confident that the sum of the talks we’re having – Norway, the USA, Canada, Qatar – will lead to that we will then also get new, i.e. more liquid gas to Europe and also to Germany,” said the Green politician in the ARD “Morgenmagazin”.
Habeck travels to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from Saturday to Monday. The aim is to reduce dependence on Russian natural gas and to put gas supplies on a broader footing. More liquefied natural gas (LNG) deliveries are crucial for the security of supply for German companies, said the general manager of the German Chamber of Industry and Commerce (DIHK), Martin Wansleben. “Qatar has the potential to partially replace Russian gas supplies with additional volumes.”
In this context, Wansleben called for the approval and construction procedures for LNG terminals in Germany to be accelerated. Timm Kehler from the industry association Zukunft Gas pointed out that a large part of the LNG is currently going from Qatar to the Asia-Pacific region. “So Europe will enter price competition with Asia here.”
Industry meanwhile in “crisis preparation”
Meanwhile, Russian natural gas continues to flow to Europe. After two days of slightly lower delivery volumes, 105.1 million cubic meters were to be pumped through Ukraine on Friday, according to a spokesman for the state-owned company Gazprom, according to the Interfax agency. Gazprom justified the interim decline with fewer orders from European customers.
The Federal Network Agency confirmed talks with industry and the energy sector to prepare for a crisis in the event of a gas supply crisis. The reason for the talks was the preparation for the case of unavoidable shutdowns of the industry, the authority said. “In such a situation, household customers are subject to special legal protection and are given priority,” emphasized a spokesman.