Reuters: European Council head to travel to Qatar for gas talks

European Council President Charles Michel will visit Qatar next week to negotiate with a major gas supplier. About this with reference to representatives of the government of Qatar informs Reuters.

Michel is expected to arrive in Doha on Tuesday to discuss the energy crisis in Europe with representatives of the state-owned QatarEnergy. One of the largest exporters of natural gas has been negotiating with several buyers from Europe for several months, but no new deals have been reported, the agency writes.

“Charles Michel will meet with several high-ranking officials to discuss and address regional and international issues, including the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, the energy crisis, as well as a number of other issues such as Afghanistan, Iran and Palestine-Israel,” the Qatari official said.

The majority of Qatari gas deliveries are made under long-term contracts to Asian countries. At the same time, as the Deputy Prime Minister of Qatar noted in May, in 2024 QatarEnergy may start exporting gas to Germany from a plant in Texas, in which it owns a controlling stake. In addition, the Middle Eastern country is looking for new buyers in order to increase production, writes Reuters.

After the start of a special military operation in Ukraine, European countries are trying to replace gas supplies from Russia. In March, German Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection Robert 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 purchasing LNG.

However, Reuters reported in May that Germany and Qatar had not agreed on the main terms of the supply. In August, the German edition of DWN stated that the federal minister’s attempt to negotiate with Qatar failed, the country supplies more gas to Italy, and Germany “gets nothing.” In June, Bloomberg learned that Qatar may require the EU to sign long-term contracts for 20 years for the supply of LNG.