As its influence grows, the country is poised to become a big energy supplier to Europe, which has turned away from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. Russia’s war in Ukraine has jolted global energy markets, leaving Europe short of natural gas, raising prices for all fossil fuels and threatening a global recession. But one country has maneuvered effectively to gain economic and political advantage from the turmoil: Qatar. Long a big exporter of liquefied natural gas to Asian countries, Qatar is poised to become a critical energy source for Europe, which is pivoting away from its dependence on Russia. Qatar is also drawing closer to China, undermining Russian hopes of diverting to Asia most of the energy Europe is no longer buying. Qatar, many energy experts said, is becoming the Saudi Arabia of natural gas - an indispensable energy supplier with vast reserves and very low costs. This means Qatar will be able to sell natural gas longer and more profitably than other major exporters like Australia and Russia even as climate change forces many countries to reduce their use of fossil fuels. “This is Qatar’s moment,” said Ben Cahill, an energy expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “Everyone in the world needs them.” Qatar is virtually tied with Australia and the United States as the largest producer of liquefied natural gas, fuel that is super chilled and shipped on tankers. Experts say Australian exports have likely peaked and some of its aging fields are beginning to decline. New export terminals are being built in the United States but at a relatively modest pace that has been limited partly by big investors who are less willing to put money into fossil fuels than they were a few years ago because of concerns about climate change. Russia is also a major exporter of gas, much of which it has long sold to Europe via pipelines. But those exports have slowed to a trickle since Russia invaded... |