Doha (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Qatar’s Energy Minister warns of halting gas shipments to the EU over new sustainability regulations targeting forced labour and environmental harm.
Gas-rich Qatar’s Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi has said that Qatar will cease shipping gas to the European Union if member nations strictly implement a new regulation cracking down on forced labour and environmental harm.
What are the implications of the EU’s due diligence law?
On 25 July 2024, the European Union approved the Directive on corporate sustainability due diligence. The law requires larger firms operating in the European Union to review whether their supply chains employ forced labour or induce environmental damage and to bring action if they do. Punishments include penalties of up to five per cent of international revenue.Â
This Directive seeks to foster responsible and sustainable corporate behaviour in organisations’ processes and across their international value chains. The regulations will guarantee that firms in scope identify and handle adverse human rights and environmental consequences of their activities inside and outside the EU.
How does Qatar view the EU’s sustainability regulations?
If the point is that I lose five per cent of my rendered revenue by moving to Europe, I will not go to Europe. I’m not bluffing, Kaabi briefed the Financial Times, saying that “five per cent of the generated income of QatarEnergy signifies five per cent of the generated income of the Qatar state. This is the people’s capital, so I cannot fail that kind of money – and nobody would tolerate losing that kind of money.
The chief executive of state-owned QatarEnergy Kaabi has expressed the European Union should comprehensively examine the due diligence law. He has also stated that his Gulf country has no worries about US president-elect Donald Trump’s commitment to lift a cap on liquefied natural gas exports.
What percentage of Qatar’s LNG is exported to Europe?
Qatar, among the world’s leading LNG exporters, is aiming to play a bigger position in Europe and Asia as the contest from leading suppliers to the US rises. It intends to expand its liquefaction capability to 142 million tons per year by 2027 from 77 million. Qatar shipped 79.8 million tonnes of LNG in 2023. 15.1 million tonnes around 19% of which were given to Europe, practically solely via the Suez Canal.
The LNG exchange between Europe and Qatar is undergoing a significant change, with Europe accounting for solely 10% of Qatar’s LNG shipment so far this year, a decrease from 20% during the identical period last year. Qatar has shifted its export process towards closer goals, especially India (17%), China (25%), Pakistan (11%), and Kuwait (5%).
