Germany and Qatar agree on long-term energy partnership
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Not many details were provided by the German minister.
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German economy minister, Robert Habeck, and the Qatari Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani.
Sanctions against Russia have been threatening Germany and Europe in general with not only increasing costs of living, but also impending mass poverty if Berlin were to completely shun Russian energy.
After yesterday's warning against implementing new sanctions on Russia from the head of Deutsche Bank, Germany and Qatar agreed Sunday on a long-term energy partnership, as announced by German Economy Minister Robert Habeck in a visit to Doha.
"The day has developed a strong dynamic," said Habeck after meeting Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, as reported by Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
The German economy minister did not reveal any details about the agreement and noted that the support was greater than expected.
Just yesterday, Habeck warned that Germany could not yet halt Russian gas supplies, or it would face shortages that would prevent the country from supporting its industry and heating homes next winter.
The agreement comes although Qatari gas supplies are distributed at full capacity: a large slice of the supply is under contract to Asia, and some Pacific US allies, namely India, Japan, and South Korea.
Recently, Berlin has gone on to build liquefied natural gas terminals to reduce reliance on natural gas.
The liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal will be built on its coast on the North Sea, saying it seeks to reduce its reliance on imports of Russian gas following Moscow's special military operation in Ukraine.
"It is necessary to reduce our dependence on Russian gas as quickly as possible" in light of Moscow's aggression, Economy and Climate Minister Robert Habeck said in a statement.
Germany was financing the project with the state-owned Dutch gas company Gasunie and Germany energy group RWE.
Liquefying natural gas makes it easier to transport, especially between countries that are not connected by pipelines, which is why the United States exports so much LNG to Europe.
Germany imported close to 55% of its gas needs from Russia until the beginning of the special operation in Ukraine. Currently, it does not have any LNG terminals.
