Qatar and the U.S. have written to EU heads of state expressing concern over the bloc's corporate sustainability rules and their potential impact on liquefied natural gas exports, a statement from QatarEnergy showed on Wednesday.
Last week, Qatar's energy minister, Saad al-Kaabi, told Reuters that Qatar would not be able to do business in the EU, including supplying Europe with LNG to plug its energy gap, unless more changes are made to its Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive.
The letter signed by Kaabi and U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the directive "poses a significant risk to the affordability and reliability of critical energy supplies for households and businesses across Europe and an existential threat to the future growth, competitiveness, and resilience of the EU's industrial economy."
QATAR SAYS PROPOSED WATERING DOWN OF RULES NOT ENOUGH
The EU rule requires larger companies operating in the bloc to find and fix human rights and environmental issues in their supply chains or face financial penalties.
The European Commission did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Last week, the European Parliament's legal committee backed plans to water down the law, having faced pushback from companies, but Kaabi said the changes did not address key concerns.
Qatar has been supplying between 12% and 14% of Europe's LNG since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. QatarEnergy has established long-term supply contracts with major energy companies, including Britain's Shell (SHEL.L), France's TotalEnergies (TTEF.PA) and Italy's ENI (ENI.MI).
Europe is expected to import up to 160 additional LNG cargoes this winter due to lower storage levels and a decline in pipeline flows from Russia and Algeria, according to analysts and data. This situation is likely to increase Europe's dependency on U.S. gas.
