The European Union’s rejection of Russian energy supplies after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine will not last forever, Qatar’s energy minister said at a recent energy conference, CNBC reports.

“The Europeans are saying today that we cannot go back” to buying Russian gas, Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, the energy minister and head of state-owned gas company QatarEnergy, told the Atlantic Council’s energy forum in Abu Dhabi.

“We are all blessed with the ability to forget and forgive. And I think things get better over time… they learn from that situation and probably have a lot more variety [de aport de energie]”.

Europe has long been Russia’s largest consumer of most energy products, especially natural gas.

EU countries have sharply reduced imports of Russian energy carriers, imposing sanctions in response to Moscow’s brutal, large-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Russian state energy giant Gazprom’s gas exports to Switzerland and the EU will fall by 55% in 2022, the company said earlier this month.

The reduction in imports has sharply increased energy costs for Europe, prompting oil and gas industry leaders and executives to develop new energy sources and maintain supplies from alternative sources.

But Russian gas is returning, in my opinion, to Europe,” al-Kaabi said.

So far, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has claimed tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of lives, destroyed entire cities, and displaced more than 8 million people.

Russian missiles and drone attacks regularly hit and destroy homes, schools, hospitals and vital energy infrastructure, leaving millions of Ukrainians without power.

Europe has managed to avoid a major crisis this winter thanks to mild weather and significant gas reserves built up over the past year.

Energy experts and analysts warn of a more dangerous situation at the end of 2023, when these reserves are depleted.

“Fortunately, they are [Europa] they didn’t have much demand for gas because of the warm weather,” al-Kaabi said.

“The problem is what happens when they want to fill their fields next year and the gas doesn’t hit the market until the 25th, 26th, 27th… So I think it’s going to be volatile for a while situation”.

Later, during a conference call, CNBC spoke with Italian energy company Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi, who dismissed the Qatari minister’s comments.

“I think the war is still going on and it’s not easy to forgive someone when they kill innocent people, women and children, bomb hospitals. I think that more than forgiving, we should understand the meaning of life. For our modern war, because that’s what’s going on there. So when we talk about energy security, we’re talking about financing, how do you allocate your money, how much for gas, how much for renewables, and how do you think people are killing near or far away from you… It’s a priority, it’s that , which we have to resolve,” Descalzi told CNBC.

“Otherwise,” the CEO added, “it’s the big elephant in the room. We hide things like that, and when we hide something, it comes back bigger and bigger. If you forgive, it means that you don’t look at it, you don’t think that we should solve these kinds of problems.”

Deskaltsi noted that the war in Ukraine and energy security are at the forefront for him and his industry.

Italy has dramatically reduced its dependence on Russian gas, replacing it with energy sources from alternative producers such as Algeria.

On Sunday, Eni announced a new gas discovery in an offshore field in the eastern Mediterranean, off the coast of Egypt.

“To be honest, energy security is a big problem… but I think Ukraine is a priority in 2023,” Descalci said. This is from my point of view. This is Russia. This is the relationship with China.”

“I’m not a politician,” he added, “but I believe that you can’t manage and talk about money, energy and industry – it’s clear that if you don’t look at it, many people will suffer. . But on the other hand, you talk about freedom, democracy and people dying.”

(source: news.ro)