West destroying African economies; with divestment in gas production, amidst a push for green energy.

In order to guarantee supply security and reasonable prices during the global energy transition, greater investment is necessary, according to remarks made on Saturday by the energy ministers of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The mild winter in Europe had caused prices to decline, but Saad al-Kaabi, state minister for energy for Qatar, warned that volatility would persist “for some time to come” because there would be little new gas entering the market until 2025.

He added that energy producers were concerned about demand destruction. “The issue is what’s going to happen when they (Europe) want to replenish their storages this coming year and the next year,” he said.

One of the biggest producers of liquefied natural gas in the world is Qatar. A member of OPEC, the UAE is increasing its attention on the gas market as Europe looks to substitute Russian energy imports following supply reductions brought on by Western sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine.

The minister of Qatar expressed his conviction that Russian gas would eventually reach Europe.

Speaking on the same panel in Abu Dhabi, UAE Energy Minister Suhail al-Mazrouei concurred that while more renewable energy would be installed, more investment was required in gas as a base load.

According to Mazrouei, “the entire globe needs to think about resources and how to encourage businesses to create more gas in order to make it accessible and reasonably priced.”

According to Kaabi, gas “is not a transition fuel” but a destination fuel, and it is unreasonable for people in the West to argue that African countries shouldn’t be drilling for oil and gas because it is crucial to their economies and the world needs more supplies as part of its push for green energy.

According to Mazrouei, many nations’ “unclear” strategies made it difficult for them to sign long-term gas contracts, which made it difficult for energy corporations to obtain financing for investments in expanding production capacity.