Qatar’s energy minister says Russian gas will eventually return to Europe as nations ‘forgive and forget’

Qatar’s energy minister said at an energy conference over the weekend that the European Union’s rejection of Russian energy products following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine would not last forever.

“Today, Europeans are saying there’s no way we’ll go back” buying Russian gas, said Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, energy minister and head of state-owned gas company QatarEnergy.

“We’re all lucky enough to be able to forget and forgive. And I think things heal over time… they learn from that situation and perhaps have a much greater diversity. [of energy intake].”

Europe has long been Russia’s biggest customer for most energy commodities, especially natural gas. EU countries have significantly cut back on imports of Russian energy supplies, imposing sanctions in response to Moscow’s brutal, all-out invasion of Ukraine.

Gas exports from Russian state energy giant Gazprom to Switzerland and the EU have fallen by 55% in 2022, the company said earlier this month. The import cuts have dramatically increased energy costs for Europe, leaving oil and gas leaders and executives scrambling to develop new energy sources and find alternative sources.

“But in my view, Russian gas is coming back to Europe,” al-Kaabi said.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has so far claimed the lives of dozens, if not hundreds of thousands, destroyed entire cities and displaced more than 8 million people. Russian missile and drone attacks regularly strike and wreak havoc on residential buildings, schools, hospitals and critical energy infrastructure, leaving millions of Ukrainians without electricity.

Europe managed to avert a major crisis this winter, thanks to mild weather and substantial gas reserves accumulated over the past year. Energy officials and analysts warn of a more precarious situation towards the end of 2023, when these supplies dry up.

“Fortunately they [Europe] there is no high demand for gas due to warmer weather,” al-Kaabi said. “The problem is what happens when they want to replenish their stock next year, and there’s not a lot of gas on the market until ’25, ’26, ’27… So I think. the situation will be volatile for a while.”

Later in the conference, CNBC spoke with the CEO of Italian energy company Eni, Claudio Descalzi, who refuted the Qatari minister’s comments.

“I think war is still there, and it’s not easy to forgive anyone when you kill innocent people, women and children and bomb hospitals,” Descalzi told CNBC’s Hadley Gamble. “And so I think that more than forgiveness, we have to understand the meaning of life for our words. For our modern war, because that’s what it is. [what is] happen there. So when we talk about energy security, we talk about funding how you allocate your money, how much is on gas, how much is on renewables, and you think people are killing people. whether you’re near you or far from you… That’s a priority, it’s something we have to deal with.”

“Otherwise,” the CEO added, “there’s a big elephant in the room. We hide these things to ourselves, and when we do, we hide something. [it] is coming back bigger and bigger. If you’re forgiving, that means you’re not looking at it, you don’t think we have to deal with this kind of problem.”

Descalzi says the war in Ukraine and energy security are top priorities for him and his industry. Italy has significantly reduced its dependence on Russian gas by replacing it with energy sources from alternative producers, such as Algeria. On Sunday, Eni announced a new gas discovery at an offshore field in the eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Egypt.

“Honestly, energy security is a big issue…but I think, in 2023, the top priority is Ukraine,” says Descalzi. That is from my point of view. That is Russia. That’s the relationship with China.”

“I’m not a politician,” he added, “but I think you can’t manage money and talk about energy and industry at the same time – obviously, if you don’t look at that , a lot of people will suffer. But from the other side, you talk about freedom, democracy and dying people.”