Ukraine crisis: replacing Russian gas to Europe ‘almost impossible’, Qatar warns

An estimated 30-40 per cent of Europe’s gas comes from Russia – an amount that ‘no single country’ can replace, Qatar’s energy minister said

Qatar had been approached by the United States to re-route liquefied natural gas supplies to Europe in case sanctions affect the Russian flow of gas

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Heavy snow in Britain on Saturday. Russian gas supplies to Europe will not be easily replaced in the event of disruption amid the Ukraine crisis. Photo: PA via AP

Published: 9:31pm, 22 Feb 2022Updated: 1:40pm, 9 Mar 2022

Neither Qatar nor any other single country has the capacity to replace Russian gas supplies to Europe with liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the event of disruption due to a conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Qatar’s energy minister said on Tuesday.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine escalated on Tuesday after Moscow ordered troops into two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine.

The United States and its European allies are set to announce fresh sanctions against Russia after President Vladimir Putin formally recognised the independence of the two regions in eastern Ukraine. The sanctions could affect the Russian flow of gas into Europe.

A tanker carrying liquefied gas from Qatar arrives at a port in Poland in 2015. Photo: AP

“Russia [provides] I think 30-40 per cent of the supply to Europe. There is no single country that can replace that kind of volume, there isn’t the capacity to do that from LNG,” minister Saad al-Kaabi told reporters at a gas conference in Doha.

“Most of the LNG are tied to long-term contracts and destinations that are very clear. So, to replace that sum of volume that quickly is almost impossible.”

Qatar, one of the world’s top LNG producers, has recently been approached by the United States to re-route gas supplies to Europe in case Russia attacks Ukraine and the United States imposes sanctions on Moscow.