Germany wants to end dependence on Russia for gas: can Qatar help out?

Created: 03/11/2022, 20:05

By: Andreas Schmid

The flare stack from a gas well in Sailiya, 40 km north of the Qatari capital Doha.

Natural gas is largely responsible for Qatar's wealth.

© Karim Sahib/AFP

More than half of German natural gas comes from Russia.

Because of the Ukraine war, this dependency is to be ended.

Then who delivers?

Qatar?

Doha/Munich - The escalating Ukraine conflict is having a massive impact on global energy supplies.

The EU is considering getting rid of Russian gas, but Russia is also threatening to turn off the gas supply.

Germany, in turn, has stopped the approval process for Nord Stream 2.

The gas pipeline was supposed to bring Russian natural gas to Germany via the Baltic Sea.

Now that Russia is the largest supplier of natural gas in Germany, the question remains: how can supply bottlenecks be avoided?

World Cup hosts Qatar could possibly help.

However, the desert state is not a panacea.

Ukraine war: Can Qatar replace Russia as natural gas supplier?

Qatar is one of the richest countries in the world.

This is due to the reserves of oil and especially natural gas.

Due to its mineral resources, the Gulf State is a sought-after trading partner and is one of the world's largest producers and exporters of natural gas.

Only Iran and Russia have more natural gas reserves.

When it comes to liquefied natural gas (LNG), Qatar is even the world market leader.

Qatar exports its gas mainly to the Arab world and Asia, but is now constantly trying to gain a foothold in the European market.

There are already liquid gas contracts with the Netherlands, Italy and Poland.

Overall, however, Qatar only supplies around five percent of European gas imports, explains Andreas Loeschel, Chair of Environmental and Resource Economics and Sustainability at the Ruhr University in Bochum.

"However, in the last few months the volume of liquid gas deliveries has increased by more than 65 percent compared to the previous year." Can the desert state compete with the commodity giant Russia?

LNG

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is used when there is no pipeline connection between the producer and the consumer.

Natural gas liquefies when it is cooled to -162 degrees Celsius.

It's usually more expensive than pipeline gas.

Qatar gas to Germany?

"They expect deliveries to Europe"

So far not a drop of Qatari oil has arrived in Germany.

Because: "Germany itself cannot import liquid gas," as Professor Anke Weidlich from the Institute for Sustainable Technical Systems at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg explains to our editors.

"This requires regasification terminals, i.e. systems in which the liquid gas is converted back into the gaseous state." Such terminals do not yet exist in this country.

They were politically and economically controversial for many years, require time for planning, approval and construction - and are expensive.

"Under normal circumstances, it is cheaper to import Russian pipeline gas than more expensive LNG gas," says Detlef Fischer, Managing Director of the Bavarian Energy and Water Industry Association

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Ukraine war: Qatar finds it 'almost impossible' to replace Russia in gas

Theoretically, more Qatari natural gas could be brought to Europe, but the entire infrastructure would have to be converted before this could happen.

"Of course, the country cannot increase its natural gas production at will in the short term," says Weidlich.

Economist Loesche says: "The problem is also that in Qatar there are mostly long-term supply contracts with supplying countries, especially in Asia, especially to China, India, South Korea and Pakistan."

However, Qatar seems interested in working with Germany.

"With its massive expansion of LNG capacities, Qatar is definitely counting on deliveries to Europe," says Loeschel.

"The location makes it possible." According to Qatar, however, it can only redirect ten to 15 percent of its existing supply contracts to other destinations.

Qatari Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi said it was "almost impossible" to replace Russian natural gas supplies to Europe.

In response to repeated requests from

, Qatar's state-owned natural gas company Qatar Energy and the Qatari government declined to comment on possible cooperation with Germany.

Saad Sherida al-Kaabi is Minister of Energy in Qatar and President of QatarEnergy, the state-owned company that runs all oil and gas activities in Qatar.

© Karim Jaafar/AFP

Video: LNG terminals should make Germany more independent from Russia

Natural gas in Germany: "We are almost completely dependent"

Germany is extremely dependent on natural gas supplies from other countries.

“Only around five percent of the natural gas used in Germany comes from our own production.

That means we are almost entirely dependent on imports,” says energy expert Fischer.

Germany gets more than half of its natural gas from Russia, almost a third comes from Norway and a small part from the Netherlands.

So Russia is clearly the biggest player in gas supply.

You can feel that especially in Bavaria, as Fischer explains.

“The Norwegian gas is purely physically consumed in northern Germany.

Due to its properties (so-called L-gas), Dutch cannot be used in our devices (so-called H-gas).

We in Bavaria are currently almost entirely dependent on Russian natural gas.

That is the bitter truth.”

Is society ready to be powered by a war criminal?

Detlef Fischer, Managing Director of the Bavarian Energy and Water Industry Association

Society, above all, must answer how this dependency is to be dealt with in the future, says Fischer, and with a view to Russia's President Vladimir Putin, asks: "Is society prepared to let a war criminal supply it with energy?

If it isn't, the next question is: What consequences is it willing to bear for it.” According to Fischer, without cutbacks such as even higher energy prices and massive savings, a complete turn away from Russia is not possible in the long term.

“It's not just about natural gas, but also about coal and oil from Russia.

Of course we can live without Russian energy supplies.

But life will look very different for many next winter.”

Energy supply in Germany: Green hydrogen perspective - from Qatar?

In order for Bavaria's energy supply to be secured, according to Fischer, a "broad mix of gas supply sources" is needed for a transitional period.

That means no longer just focusing on Russia.

A process that will take several years - and in which Qatar will also be involved?

The Bavarian energy expert is skeptical.

“Do we really want to continue as we have been in the long run?

Do we really want to buy LNG gas from a country that is suspected of financing international terrorism with it?” Fischer advocates a general paradigm shift towards renewable energies such as sun, wind and hydropower, from which green hydrogen is then produced.

“This perspective is much more interesting and makes you sleep better.

Here we go!"

In the case of green hydrogen, Qatar could come into play again, says Freiburg professor Weidlich.

"Qatar is a very sunny country and could produce green hydrogen in the future, which can help Europe to become CO2-neutral." The absolute potential for this is manageable, "but thanks to the existing infrastructure, the country could enter this market quite quickly “.

Green hydrogen plays a decisive role in the federal government's climate plans, especially since the Ministry of Economics and Climate is now occupied by the Greens.

Weidlich says: “It is currently still unclear which countries will make progress here first.

Qatar would be in a good position to do that.”

Energy from Qatar: EU in talks, Emir at Joe Biden

The EU countries have recently positioned themselves on the gradual independence of the EU from Russia in terms of energy supply.

They also want to talk to other countries, such as Egypt and Qatar.

States that have previously been targeted by the EU for human rights violations.

The USA in particular seems to be trying to integrate Qatar even more into the gas supply.

At the end of January, Qatar's Emir Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani was on an official state visit to the White House.

Guest in the White House: Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamal Al Thani with US President Joe Biden.

© Tom Brenner/Imago

Ukraine war: Russia invasion causes energy price explosion

One thing is clear: the Ukraine war has driven up gas demand and prices.

Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck (Greens) therefore emphasized the importance of reducing dependence on Russian gas.

Germany must make itself independent of the "price and warmongering" of other countries.

In the short term, the federal government wants to alleviate this dependency by releasing the national oil reserves.

However, this is primarily intended to stabilize prices, while also covering unforeseen losses in oil and gas supplies.

In the long term, serious alternatives to Russia are needed.

Whether Qatar will be considered as such?

Inside Qatar

This text is part of the Inside Qatar series.

Until the football World Cup in winter, we want to give you regular background reports on the (sports) political situation in Qatar - and look at different topics.

We recently reported on the investments made by the Gulf States in sport.

If you have any suggestions, suggested topics or criticism, please contact andreas.schmid@zentralredaktion.news.