DWN announces Qatar’s decision not to supply gas to Germany

Qatar supplies more gas to Italy, and Germany “receives nothing” after the visit of the German Economy Minister Robert Habek to the Arab country, reported Deutsche Wirtschaftsnachrichten edition.

An attempt by the federal minister to negotiate with Qatar on the supply of liquefied natural gas failed, DWN notes. Habek visited Doha in March, after which he announced that Qatar would supply gas to Germany.

By data FOCUS publications, major German energy companies have not signed a single contract with suppliers from Qatar. Instead, they agreed on additional supplies from the United States: in particular, EnBW signed a contract with North American supplier Venture Global LNG to purchase 1.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas per year from 2026. In addition, RWE plans to receive an additional 2.25 million tons from USA.

“It is not yet clear when LNG will actually start flowing. This means that there are currently no additional gas supplies for this winter,” notes FOCUS.

After the start of a special military operation in Ukraine, Germany is trying to replace gas supplies from Russia. In March, Minister Habek said that during his visit to Qatar, he agreed on cooperation in the energy sector, which in the future provides for the possibility of supplying LNG. On March 21, the Qatari government announced that companies from both countries “will discuss the terms of long-term contracts for the supply of liquefied natural gas from Qatar to Germany.”

Reuters reported in May that Germany and Qatar had not agreed on the main terms of the supply. Sources noted that the parties cannot, in particular, agree on the terms of future contracts. Berlin aims to reduce carbon emissions by 88% by 2040, and the 20-year contract that Qatar is pushing for will stand in the way of that goal. The agency noted that in negotiations with Qatar, Germany competes with other countries buying LNG.