Page 10 - EurOil Week 38 2022

EurOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT EurOil

Germany aims to sign LNG

supply deals with UAE

GERMANY GERMANY’S Economic Affairs and Climate has ripped open.”
Action Minister Robert Habeck said on Septem- Habeck mentioned during the press con-
Germany is reaching ber 19 that Chancellor Olaf Scholz was set to sign ference that he had discussed LNG supplies
out to the Middle East contracts for LNG supplies during an upcoming during his own trip to Qatar and the UAE in
for supplies to replace trip to the UAE. March of this year but did not elaborate. Reu-
Russian imports. Speaking during a trip to Lubmin, where new ters noted in May, citing sources who spoke
LNG import facilities will be built in the near on condition of anonymity, that Germany and
future, Habeck said the UAE could help Ger- Qatar had not been able to come to terms on
many diversify its slate of natural gas suppliers. LNG supplies because of disagreements over
He also voiced confidence in Berlin’s chances of key issues, including the duration of supply
securing a deal. “The gas offering is slowly broad- contracts.
ening ... The chancellor is traveling next week to In Lubmin, an industrial port, private Ger-
the UAE and will certainly be able to sign some man investors are working to upgrade existing
contracts for LNG there,” he told reporters. facilities so that they can accommodate smaller
He did not say how much LNG Germany was shuttle tankers capable of transferring LNG from
looking to buy from the UAE but indicated that larger tankers floating offshore to onshore pipe-
Scholz would discuss the matter while in Dubai. line networks. Shipments may begin as early as
The chancellor is due to begin a state visit to three December.
Middle Eastern countries – Saudi Arabia, Qatar Eventually, Lubmin – which is also where the
and the UAE – next weekend and will be in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline network, built to import
UAE on September 24-25, he noted during a gas from Russia, which has now taken it off line
press conference. in retaliation for the European Union’s support
All three countries are potential sources of of oil sanctions – will be home to a higher-ca-
gas, the minister added. “[The] government is pacity LNG import facility that requires fewer
permanently in talks with many countries, also transshipments. The German government is
with nations on the Arabian Peninsula,” he said. sponsoring the construction of a floating storage
He continued: “[It’s] not only the UAE. It’s and regasification unit (FSRU) there, and Scholz
other countries, African countries. In that way, said earlier this month that the unit would come
we’ll close the hole that the lack of Russian gas on stream by the end of next year. ™

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