Germany will be importing liquefied natural gas from Qatar, Economy Minister Robert Habeck announced following a visit to Qatar.
Qatar will export liquefied natural gas to Gemany, Habeck said in a Twitter video. "Now it's up to the companies to set up contracts."
"Qatar is in the process of increasing its gas extraction and we need more gas in the short term to replace Russian supplies," Habeck said, as translated by Bloomberg. "That is what I discussed with the Emir and the energy minister."
Qatar last year made the final investment decision on a massive LNG expansion program that will raise its annual production capacity from 77 million tons to 110 million tons. The project, with a price tag of $28.75 billion, is set to be completed by the end of 2025.
Germany, meanwhile, is urgently seeking alternative gas suppliers to reduce its dependence on Russia. The country is the biggest natural gas consumer in Europe and the seventh-largest consumer in the world, per EIA data from 2019.
Despite a strong green lobby that has been advocating successfully for a shift to renewable power, the German government has acknowledged the country's economy will continue needing a lot of natural gas in the observable future.
Habeck did not elaborate on the details of the deal agreed in Doha but said it would be a "door opener" for the German economy as it would reduce dependence on Russian gas, the Financial Times reported.
"We might still need Russian gas this year, but not in the future," the official said, as quoted by DPA. "It starts like this - so he who has ears should start to listen," most likely referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As part of its gas shift, Germany recently announced plans to build two import terminals for liquefied natural gas. To date, the country has none.
By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com
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Irina is a writer for Oilprice.com with over a decade of experience writing on the oil and gas industry. More