Qatar Emir Says Russian Oil Irreplaceable

By Staff, Agencies

Prince of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani underlined that Doha cannot replace the Russian oil as it is considered an important source for the global market, sounding that alarm that around one billion people are lacking access to electricity worldwide.

In an interview with French Magazine Le Point that was published Wednesday, September 14, 2022, Al Thani said that since the 1980s and 1990s, Qatar has taken the risk of investing in gas.

“We knew that it would be an energy that would become very important in the future. And a few years ago, we did it again by increasing our LNG production, although the global trend at the time was to get rid of these energies and focus on those that were then considered "clean", like solar and wind. But I can tell you that LNG is also clean energy. And gas is very important for the upcoming transition period,” he went on to say.

The Emir of Qatar further warned that the war in Europe complicates the situation enormously, but noted that the problem existed before.

“We supply our energy largely to Asia but also to Europe, through long-term agreements and also on the spot market. We want to help Europe and we will supply gas to Europe in the coming years. But it is not true that we can replace Russian gas. Russian gas is essential to the global market,” Sheikh Tamim added.

In response to a question whether he believes that gas, particularly LNG, will continue to play a key role in the global energy mix, the top Qatari official said “Of course! It will be very important for the transition period, and in the longer term, in the energy mix.”

Let us not forget, Sheikh Tamim said, “we are talking about our problems, but there are a billion people on the planet who still do not have access to electricity.”