Germany and Qatar have achieved an agreement on a long-term energy partnership as Europe’s largest economy strives to reduce its reliance on Russian energy sources.
Germany’s major gas supplier is Russia. Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck has started multiple attempts to reduce Germany’s energy dependency on Russia.
The Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, met Habeck on Sunday and the two discussed ways to strengthen bilateral ties, notably in the energy industry, according to a statement from the Emiri office.
On Sunday, a representative for the German economy ministry in Berlin announced that an agreement had been reached.
“The companies that have come to Qatar with (Habeck) will now enter into contract negotiations with the Qatari side,” the spokesperson said.
Qatar said in a statement that it had been trying to supply Germany for years but that conversations had never resulted in real agreements.
Qatar said it reached an agreement with Germany that “their respective commercial entities would re-engage and progress discussions on long term LNG supplies”.
According to a statement from al-Kaabi, Habeck met with Qatari Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad Sherida al-Kaabi in Doha, where they discussed energy ties and collaboration between Qatar, one of the world’s top natural gas producers, and Germany, as well as measures to improve them.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Germany halted construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which would have brought Russian natural gas straight to Germany across the Baltic Sea.
