The United States wants Qatar to challenge the dominance of Russian gas in Europe, where talks are being held in Qatar, the world's largest supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG), US Deputy Energy Secretary Dan Prolet said on Monday.
Prolet told Reuters that the United States is discussing with Doha the supply of LNG to Europe and that it wants Germany and other countries to import US and Qatari gas instead of Russian. Russia currently exports 60 percent of Germany's largest energy consumer needs of gas .
"We can talk to the Qataris about extending natural gas to the European markets, they are very interested in that, and we are also," he said.
Germany has recently decided to help fund liquefied natural gas (LNG) import facilities that could reduce reliance on Russia, the US deputy energy secretary said.
Prolet acknowledged that liquefied natural gas would cost more than gas delivered through pipelines, but said LNG supplies from Qatar and other countries would help diversify sources of supplies destined for Europe, boosting national security. "Cheap gas comes at a high price of freedom "He said.
The United States has warned German companies of possible sanctions over the planned construction of the next-generation Nord Stream2 pipeline, which would double Russian export power to Germany across the Baltic Sea.
On another subject, Prolet said the United States was discussing with Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to encourage them to resolve a pending issue of resuming oil production from jointly managed fields, saying they were "close to resolving the issue."
The two countries stopped co-production from the Khafji and Wafra fields in the divided area more than three years ago, preventing supplies of about 500,000 bpd or 0.5% of world production.