Qatar ready to provide any amount of gas Turkey needs

(MENAFN- The Peninsula) By Mehmet Ali Berber

Despite a deal reached with Qatar last Tuesday which did not specify the amount of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to be provided for Turkey in an interview with Daily Sabah Qatar’s Ambassador to Ankara Salem Mubarak Al Shafi said that the world’s biggest LNG exporter is ready to provide any amount of gas that Turkey needs. Following President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Doha Daily Sabah discussed Turkey-Qatar relations which are at a historical peak with Al Shafi.

Stressing that the magic behind the strength of the relations has been evoking curiosity internationally and they are ready to take any steps to consolidate the bilateral relations further Al Shafi said:

“In this period of crisis the amount of LNG to be exported is still unclear” adding that “we are ready to export any amount our brother state demands.” Al Shafi also expressed that they want to improve relations on a public scale and thus they bilaterally lifted the visa requirements.

Al Shafi shared information about the energy potential of Qatar saying “currently we are number one in LNG supply and we rank in third place in terms of reserves. Last year we exported 1.2 billion cubic meters of LNG to Turkey. Within this year we are ready to export any amount Turkey demands and we reflected this in the deal we signed.”

Turkey’s state-owned energy company BOTAS signed a preliminary agreement on Tuesday with Qatar Petroleum to purchase LNG over a long-term period. The agreement signed during President Erdogan’s visit foresees the infrastructure for Qatari imports and a terminal to be established in Turkey.

Details such as price and quantity will be determined in a separate deal.

LNG is natural gas that has been converted to a liquid form for storage or transport purposes and is extensively used for overseas shipments. Qatar located on a peninsula and bordered only by Saudi Arabia is the world’s largest LNG exporter. The tiny country accounts for around 33 percent of the total LNG supply in the world. The country holds 14 percent of the world’s proven natural gas reserves.

The move came after relations between Turkey and Russia were strained after a Turkish F-16 downed a Russian SU-24 bomber jet that breached its airspace on November 24.

Russia has announced several economic sanctions including ban on Turkish vegetables and fruits. While the new sanctions will prevent some Turkish goods from entering Russia and prohibit the employment of Turkish citizens by Russian employers the energy-dependent economy’s governors have not risked cutting the natural gas supply to Turkey.

Doha also plans to invest in different projects in Turkey according to a Qatari envoy. He noted that there are some projects being discussed for the Afsin- Elbistan region of Turkey concerning an offer to be submitted for a plant in Afsin-Elbistan with Qatar and underlined the importance of developing projects related to crude oil natural gas and coal together.

In addition the Qatari ambassador spoke on the tense Turkish-Russian relations saying that he hopes the crisis will be overcome by both parties and the tense relations will get much better in the near future.

Al Shafi also commented about the good relations between Turkey and Qatar saying that Qatar and Turkey approached many political issues in the same way such as the Arab Spring with both countries made it clear that the coup has no place in Egypt. Other Gulf Countries put pressure on Qatar by calling back their ambassadors. Despite all this we remained loyal to our principles and walked on the same path as Turkey.

Also only Turkey and Qatar are the countries backing the people in Syria. We really appreciate Turkey’s brave stance in the region as well as its approach to the migrant crisis Syrian people and the regime in Syria” said Al Shafi.

Daily Sabah