Qatar’s energy minister said on Tuesday that current high gas prices are due to a lack of investment as well as a supply deficit, but that the situation is not a crisis, according to Reuters.
“There is a huge demand from all our customers, and unfortunately we cannot cater for everybody. Unfortunately, in my view, this is due to the market not investing enough in the industry,” Saad al-Kaabi said on the sidelines of Gastech industry conference in Dubai.
“We hope not. We do not want these high prices, we do not think it is good for the consumers. We do not want $2 and we don’t want $20, we want to have a reasonable price that is sustainable,” he said when asked if he thinks the high prices will endure.
Due to a variety of factors including low storage levels, carbon costs, and reduced Russian supply, gas prices have risen by roughly 280 percent in Europe this year and by more than 100 percent.
Separately, al-Kaabi, who is also the CEO of state-owned Qatar Petroleum, the world’s largest LNG provider, stated that the business will bring 64 million tonnes of LNG to market between 2025 and 2027, accounting for 15 percent of current worldwide production.
The business inked a contract for the first phase of its North Field LNG project expansion in February, with the goal of increasing the country’s LNG output by 40 percent per year by 2026.
According to consultancy Wood Mackenzie, the expansion, which will increase Qatar’s LNG production capacity to 110 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) from 77 million mtpa, is the largest single LNG project ever sanctioned.
