Qatar to supply Germany with LNG as EU seeks secure energy options

Qatar to supply Germany with LNG as EU seeks secure energy options

Qatar is to provide Germany with liquefied natural gas under a long-term supply deal that marks a big step forward in efforts by Europe’s biggest economy to wean itself off Russian gas.

Under the two sales and purchase agreements signed on Tuesday by state-owned QatarEnergy and US group ConocoPhillips, about 2mn tonnes of LNG will be sent to Germany annually for at least 15 years, with deliveries expected to start from 2026.

The deals are the first long-term agreements for LNG supplies to an EU country since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February. European countries have been wary of striking such deals despite seeking substitutes for Russian pipeline gas, as they attempt to move away from fossil fuels.

Robert Habeck, Germany’s economy minister, welcomed the agreements. “Fifteen years is great,” he said. “I wouldn’t have anything against 20-year or even longer contracts.”

Habeck said that German utilities Uniper and RWE had been asked by the government to secure gas on the international market — including from Qatar — for an LNG terminal being built on Germany’s North Sea coast.

But noting that the contracts were between energy groups and Germany’s utilities rather than its government, Habeck warned: “The contracts themselves are the business of the