The Minister of Energy of Qatar, Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, made this statement, as reported by RBK-Ukraine referencing Financial Times. This information is also shared by Kontakty.UA.
"If it comes to losing 5% of my income by going to Europe, I will not go there. I am not bluffing. 5% of the revenue generated by QatarEnergy means 5% of the revenue generated by the state of Qatar. This is public money, so I cannot afford to lose such funds - and no one would agree to lose them," he stated.
Al-Kaabi believes that the EU should carefully reconsider the directive on comprehensive corporate sustainability checks.
He also expressed that his Gulf nation is not worried about the promise made by the elected US President Donald Trump to lift restrictions on liquefied natural gas exports.
What is this EU directive
The Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive, approved this year, requires large companies operating in the European Union to check whether their supply chains are using forced labor and whether they are causing environmental harm, and to take action if they are. Penalties include fines of up to 5% of global turnover.
Qatar, one of the largest global LNG exporters, aims to play a more significant role in Asia and Europe as competition from the leading supplier, the United States, intensifies. It plans to expand its liquefaction capacity to 142 million tons per year by 2027, up from 77 million tons.
Trump's plans for gas exports
As reported, newly elected US President Donald Trump is preparing a large-scale plan to increase gas exports and oil production. Oil and gas production will be one of the key points on the early agenda of the newly elected US President.
Additionally, in mid-December, the US Department of Energy conducted a study on the feasibility of liquefied gas exports. This report may undermine Trump's plans for the immediate issuance of permits for multi-billion dollar LNG export facilities.