The Gulf nation might halt gasoline exports to the bloc if slapped with carbon-emission fines by Brussels
Qatar will cease gasoline shipments to the EU if member states implement new laws on carbon emissions, the Gulf nation’s power minister Saad al-Kaabi has instructed the Monetary Instances (FT). Qatar has grow to be an essential provider to the bloc after Brussels resolved to wean itself off Russian gasoline following the escalation of the Ukraine battle in 2022.
If any EU nation imposes penalties on Qatar underneath the bloc’s Company Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, Doha would cease exporting its liquefied pure gasoline (LNG) to the bloc, al-Kaabi instructed the outlet on Sunday.
QatarEnergy, the state-owned power firm, has long-term LNG contracts with a number of EU international locations, together with Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands.
The EU’s company due diligence guidelines, adopted in Might 2023, are a part of the bloc’s technique to realize net-zero emissions by 2050. The laws states that non-compliance is punishable with fines of as much as 5% of the corporate’s annual world income. Al-Kaabi argued that such fines would considerably affect QatarEnergy’s income, which instantly helps the state of Qatar and its residents.
”If the case is that I lose 5% of my generated income by going to Europe, I cannot go to Europe… I’m not bluffing,” Kaabi mentioned. “I can’t lose that type of cash – and no person would settle for shedding that type of cash,” he identified.
It could be not possible for an power producer like QatarEnergy to align with the EU’s net-zero goal as stipulated by the directive due to the quantity of hydrocarbons it produces, the minister defined.
If slapped with hefty penalties, QatarEnergy wouldn’t break its LNG contracts however would try to discover authorized avenues.
”I cannot settle for that we get penalized,” he mentioned. “I’ll cease sending gasoline to Europe.”
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Ukraine gained’t lengthen Russian gasoline transit deal – PM
Following the escalation of the Ukraine battle in February 2022, the EU began changing Russian pipeline gasoline with dearer LNG from the Center East and the US. The bloc nonetheless will get pipeline gasoline from Russia by way of Ukraine’s transit community however the settlement between Moscow and Kiev is about to run out on December 31. The authorities in Kiev have repeatedly pressured that the deal is not going to be renewed.
