EUROPEAN nations are increasingly looking to the Persian Gulf region to secure liquefied natural gas and ammonia supplies as they aim to wean themselves off Russian gas imports, and key Middle Eastern suppliers are only too happy to oblige. Several energy supply agreements have been signed recently between European nations and key national oil and gas companies in the Middle East, mostly being set up by government-to-government deals. Regional giants including Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc), Saudi Aramco and QatarEnergy are stepping up gas and hydrogen investments, eyeing a larger stake in a European energy market impacted by the Ukraine war. While LNG supplies from the Middle East may be more expensive than earlier Russian gas imports due to regasification and transportation costs, they could still prove to be a more competitive option than the more lengthy US and Australian supply routes, especially over the longer term. Cyril Widdershoven, a leading Middle East geopolitics and energy analyst, believes ongoing expansion at Qatari LNG projects, combined with the future potential of Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia, points to vast volumes of gas, but he warns that the gap left by Russian gas should not be underestimated. "Keep in mind, we are talking about 150 billion to 170 billion cubic metres per year of gas, which has to be substituted by others," he says.
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