Qatar criticizes pace of EU gas liberalization
Qatar's Minister of Energy Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah has criticized the pace of EU gas market liberalization,
saying it isn't consulting gas producers and deters investment.
Speaking ahead of a Gas Exporting Countries Forum meeting in the Qatari capital Doha, Al-Attiyah was quoted as
saying: "How can I invest billions of dollars, for example, when in five years time this investment is jeopardized?"
Al-Attiyah was referring to the EU's move away from long-term gas-purchase contracts to shorter-term ones, which the
GECF has criticized. Al-Attiyah, who is also the president of the Organization of Oil Exporting Countries, said: "I
think consumers are... trying to create a deregulated market that will suit them, but not considering the needs for
the overall market. This is just encouraging more obstacles to development."
The supplement, produced on behalf of the GECF, also quoted Algeria's Minister of Energy and Mines Chakib Khelil as
saying the loosening of the EU market "has to be smooth otherwise the European Commission will create a difficult
situation for companies and producing countries." He forecast the "liberalized market is not going to be here either
this year or next. It will take a long time to set up."
The vice president of Algeria's state-run oil and gas company Sonatrach, Ali Hached, said in the supplement that
running a pipeline under the sea was less complex than securing the sales contracts for the gas it contained. The
company, he added, aimed to increase the capacity of its pipeline to Spain and Portugal from 8 bn cmpy to up to 12 bn
cmpy.
The vice chairman of Russian gas giant Gazprom, Yuri Komarov, threw his weight behind the call for long-term
contracts to be maintained, saying: "Liberalization is good but it is worth considering the consequences of
destroying the investment climate as well."