The war in Ukraine forced Berlin to urgently diversify its gas and oil supplies. Qatar must play an important role in this strategy in the future. He is also an investor who has commitments in large German companies and who could develop them.
With our correspondent in Berlin, Pascal Thibault
An energy partnership between Germany, the world’s largest gas importer, and Qatar was signed on Friday. It follows on from the visit to the emirate of the German Minister of Economy and Climate in March.
For several weeks, Germany has been working to reduce its energy dependence on Russia. For gas, Qatar must play a central role with the United States for the delivery of liquefied natural gas. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani has announced that deliveries to Germany could begin earlier as early as 2024 through a Qatar subsidiary that operates gas in the United States.
The German Parliament passed a law on Friday to shorten the deadlines for the installation of floating terminals off the German coast that can accommodate liquefied natural gas. The first could come into operation at the end of the year.
The visit of the Emir of Qatar to Berlin is not limited to the energy sector but also concerns investments by the emirate in Germany where the country is already involved with Volkswagen, Deutsche Bank and Siemens.
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