Reuters reveals Qatar seeks guarantees that emergency gas stays within EU

Reuters broke the news that top gas producer Qatar is asking the European Union to restrict resales of gas outside the bloc if it wants Qatar and other major gas suppliers to provide emergency supply in case of a Russia-Ukraine conflict. Qatar has also requested an EU resolution to a 2018 probe into its long-term contracts, which the European Commission had said might be inhibiting the free flows of gas in Europe and its single gas market. The requests made by Qatar go to the core of the EU’s gas market liberalization. The EU sees totally free trade of gas as essential to energy security, but major producers and some gas consumers say the reforms of the past two decades have often wreaked havoc and led to higher prices.