UAE to supply Germany with LNG, diesel
German RWE and UAE's ADNOC agree on supplying Berlin with liquefied natural gas by the end of December.
German multinational energy company RWE has struck an agreement with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) to provide Europe's largest economy with liquefied natural gas (LNG) by the end of December, RWE announced on Sunday.
After Germany was heavily dependent on Russia for gas, it has been looking to diversify its energy supply since the war started in Ukraine, and the consecutive sanctions against Moscow prompted a race against the clock to diminish the country's reliance on Russian gas before winter.
The announcement came on Chancellor Olaf Scholz's second day of his trip to the Gulf region in the hope of sealing new energy deals to replace Russian supplies and mitigate the energy crisis.
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"We need to make sure that the production of LNG in the world is advanced to the point where the high demand that exists can be met without having to resort to the production capacity that exists in Russia," Scholz told journalists before the agreement was announced.
The LNG delivery will be 137,000 cubic meters, RWE revealed, and the first to be provided to a floating LNG terminal at Brunsbuettel near Hamburg.
"This marks an important milestone in building up an LNG supply infrastructure in Germany and setting up a more diversified gas supply," RWE stated.
The president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, signed a deal with Scholz that covers boosting industrial growth and energy security.
In addition, ADNOC reserved an unknown number of LNG cargos for Germany in the coming year, the state news agency WAM reported on Sunday.
Scholz visited Qatar, UAE, and Saudi Arabia and stated his country was resolved to never again rely on a single energy supply and highlighted "progress" in gas projects.
His visit to Qatar comes just one day after TotalEnergies of France announced a fresh $1.5 billion deal to help Doha enhance its natural gas production.