The British government has approached Qatar to seek a long-term gas contract to help shore up supply as a natural gas crisis in Europe has resulted in rising wholesale prices.
According to newspapers, British ministers met with their counterparts from Qatar, the world’s largest producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), to explore a long-term deal in which Qatar would become a “supplier of last resort.”
In the last two weeks, Qatar has also diverted four huge tankers to the United Kingdom, according to the report.
The supplies were made after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson approached Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani for assistance at a recent meeting, according to a source familiar with the discussions.
Natural gas prices have risen this year as economies reopened following the COVID-19 sanctions, and rising demand for LNG in Asia has driven down the supply to Europe, causing shockwaves in businesses that rely on power.
Given worries about rising rivalry for LNG supplies with Asia, Britain is investigating a potential long-term arrangement.
The energy sector in the UK is in shambles due to rising energy bills. CNG Energy Ltd, a British commercial energy supplier, went out of business earlier this week, joining a list of 17 energy companies in the UK that have gone out of business since September.
