Gazprom says situation with Qatar could affect world LNG market, ready to drastically boost exports
MOSCOW. June 6 (Interfax) - The situation with Qatar could affect the world liquefied natural gas (LNG) market, Gazprom Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev told a press conference.
In this case, the company is ready to drastically boost gas supplies to world markets.
"What has happened in diplomatic relations between Qatar and neighboring countries - this is not the first time. It has happened before, and relations were restored in the space of a year. Qatar is not an oil exporter but a gas exporter, so we can't rule out this escalation resulting in problems with supplies of Qatari LNG. We don't know whether this will happen or not. Even if there is an impact, then it may not be so catastrophic. To be honest, when a market is rocked, this is of interest to currency and commodities speculators, who make money on market instability, exporters, but we prefer a stable situation," he said.
"If prices rise, that will be a plus for us. If volumes rise: the same. We have additional pipeline gas supplies we can fall back on, especially if the issue regarding OPAL is resolved, but this, unfortunately, is being dragged out. We have over 100 billion cubic meters (bcm) of available production capacity, which we can bring into effect by turning the valve," he said.
Qatar has the third largest natural gas reserves and is currently the world's biggest exporter of LNG in the world. In 2016 Qatar increased LNG exports 2% to 79.2 million tonnes.
