At a time when the United States and Europe seek to deprive Russia of oil and gas revenues, the West hopes that Qatar will help fill the shortfall in these supplies.
In his article published by the American newspaper "New York Times", writer Ben Hubbard said that over the past quarter century, Qatar was responsible for providing increasing quantities of natural gas to a number of customers around the world, and this enabled it to reap great revenues. and gaining geopolitical significance.
The writer believes that the war in Ukraine is likely to increase Qatar's influence, because at a time when the United States and its European allies seek to deprive Russia of its income from oil and gas revenues, Qatar is a suitable alternative to provide it with fuel for heating, cooking and electricity generation.
Although Qatar cannot immediately ship additional quantities of gas to Europe because most of its production is destined for its former contracting countries, it is investing tens of billions of dollars to increase production by about two-thirds by 2027, the report says.
The report quoted Cinzia Bianco, Gulf Research Fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, as saying that "all the events taking place in the world are factors that serve the interests of Qatar to become a major exporter of liquefied natural gas."
The writer pointed out that Europe's interest in Qatari gas reflects a major shift in its position, because in recent years it has been criticizing countries producing fossil fuels for their contribution to climate change, but now they are scrambling to obtain the gas they produce.
The writer emphasized that this sudden shift in the position of Western countries was prompted by the decision of Russian President Vladimir Putin to "invade" Ukraine in February.
Suddenly European countries, which received nearly half of their gas imports from Russia last year, are looking for other fuel sources to stop funding Putin's war machine.
This enabled Qatar, which is competing with the United States and Australia for the top spot of LNG exporters, to gain additional momentum.
Huge investments and gas deals
In January, amid growing fears of a Russian war on Ukraine, US President Joe Biden declared Qatar a "key non-NATO ally" and hosted Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani at the White House, making him the first Gulf head of state to be welcomed by Biden. Energy issues were at the top of the agenda of that meeting, according to the New York Times report.
And the report added that after the outbreak of the war, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called the Emir of Qatar to discuss “ensuring sustainable gas supplies” and other issues, and senior European leaders, including Josep Borrell Fontelle, a high-ranking EU official, and Robert Habeck, German Minister of Economy and Climate Change, went to Qatar to conclude gas deal.
According to the report, if Qatar's ability to alleviate gas supply problems in Europe is limited in the short term, it is likely that Qatar's investments in liquefied natural gas will align with the energy disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine to link it more closely to Europe.
The report quotes Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad al-Kaabi and the head of the state-owned Qatar Energy Company that Qatar launched, years before the outbreak of the war, a project at an estimated cost of $45 billion to build two new gas stations and increase annual production capacity by 64%, and this gas will start entering the market in 2026 is likely to be split between buyers in Europe and Asia.
Qatar invested in terminals to receive liquefied natural gas in Belgium, Britain and France. Germany - the largest economy in Europe - did not have liquefied natural gas facilities before the war, but it allocated more than 3 billion dollars to purchase 4 floating stations, the report adds.
country domination
“Qatari dominance has steadily grown by seeking to streamline LNG shipping procedures,” says David Roberts, associate professor of international relations at Kings College London. per capita income in the world.
The capital (Doha) prospered by building steel and glass skyscrapers and a group of luxury hotels and shopping malls, as the country’s sovereign wealth fund swelled and acquired stakes in major companies and major properties in London, New York and other global cities, at a time when Qatar hosts this year the World Cup. Football to show its progress in front of 1.5 million football fans expected from around the world, according to the American newspaper report.
“The Qataris have had more influence than anyone could have imagined,” says Jim Crane, an energy policy researcher at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy, adding that they "have invested natural gas in all kinds of soft power."