Photo: AFP/dpa/Wolfram Steinberg
Eurasia
06/02/2024 20:27
"Qatar's production of LNG continues uninterrupted, and our commitment is firm in ensuring a reliable supply of LNG to our customers," the company said in a statement published on its official website, according to Anadolu Agency.
Developments in the Red Sea region "affect the scheduling of some LNG shipments from Qatar as they may take alternative routes. However, it is delivered to our customers."
On January 15, Bloomberg news agency reported that Qatar had stopped sending LNG tankers through the Bab al-Mandab Strait after US-British strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen increased the risks.
In "solidarity with the Gaza Strip", which has been subjected since October 7, 2023, to a devastating Israeli war with US support, the Houthis are targeting with missiles and drones cargo ships in the Red Sea owned or operated by Israeli companies or transporting goods to and from Israel.
The Houthis have not attacked any tankers carrying gas since they began attacking ships in mid-November, but Qatar's reluctance to cross the corridor highlights a sharp increase in risks following U.S.-led strikes.
Qatar, one of the world's largest exporters of liquefied natural gas (LNG), was among the few gas suppliers that have recently continued to use the Red Sea to send fuel to Europe.
Qatar is Europe's largest supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG) after the United States, accounting for about 13 percent of Western European consumption last year.