Qatar’s energy minister said that the current gas market condition is not a healthy one to be in and called on joint efforts towards energy transition. “The current market situation is not healthy to be in,” Saad al-Kaabi said on the sidelines of a virtual LNG conference in Japan, noting a lack of supply, disruptions, and weather conditions which has led to a spike in prices while demand continues to increase.
Kaabi said it was time to “set aside emotions” and realise that a successful energy transition cannot be achieved by producers alone and that it must be a joint effort including end- users.
The minister, who is also the chief executive of state-owned Qatar Petroleum QATPE.UL , the world’s top liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplier, said in September that current high gas prices reflect a lack of investment as well as a shortage of supply but he did not regard the situation as a crisis.
Gas prices in Europe and Asia have surged this year to all-time highs, causing manufacturers to curtail activity from Spain to Britain and sparking power crises in China.
Regional natural gas markets in the United States are seeing prices for this winter surge along with global record highs – suggesting that the energy bills causing headaches in Europe and Asia will hit the world’s top gas producer before long.
Dutch wholesale gas prices hit a new record high and broke the 100 euro ($116) level for the first time on Tuesday morning amid wider energy market price hikes, supply concerns, low colder weather forecasts and a cut in French nuclear generation due to a strike.
In Asia, the focus of LNG trade, spot LNG prices hit a record of $34.47 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) last week, up roughly 100% from a month ago and more than 500% from the same period last year.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Marwa Rashad; editing by Jason Neely and Nina Chestney)