Brussels: Europe and the Arabs - agencies

"I spoke with the Emir of Qatar about the delivery of liquefied natural gas shipments, and we want to achieve more progress," Reuters news agency quoted statements on Sunday afternoon from the German chancellor, in which he said. Yesterday, Saturday, German Chancellor Olaf Schultz started a 3-day Gulf tour, which included the UAE and Qatar, and discussed several files, including energy cooperation.
The talks dealt with files of common interest, including the energy crisis, the stability of oil prices, and the repercussions of the Russian war on Ukraine, in addition to the situation in Yemen and the Iranian nuclear file.
Germany, which is seeking to diversify its energy sources, reached an important agreement with the oil and gas-rich Emirates, which provides for the supply of the Gulf country, the European state, with liquefied gas and diesel in 2022 and 2023, during a visit by Chancellor Olaf Scholz to Abu Dhabi.
UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Schultz witnessed the signing ceremony of the agreement, which reflects "a new strategic partnership in the field of accelerating energy security and industrial growth," the government's Emirates News Agency said in a statement.
Schulz visited Saudi Arabia on Friday, where he met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Salman, and then the UAE, before arriving Sunday in Qatar, one of the largest exporters of liquefied gas, as part of a Gulf tour focused on the issue of energy.
After French President Emmanuel Macron and former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Schulz is racing against time to find new suppliers to make up for soon-to-be depleted Russian gas shipments as Europe prepares for a difficult winter amid tight supplies.
Under the agreement, the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) entered into a contract to supply liquefied natural gas to the German company RWEAG, under which the Emirati company will export the first shipment of liquefied natural gas to Germany and deliver it in late 2022 for use in the trial operation of the gas import terminal Natural floating in the German city of Brunsbüttel.
In accordance with the agreement, ADNOC has allocated additional shipments of LNG to its customers in Germany, which will be delivered in 2023.
The agency announced that ADNOC had completed the first direct delivery of a shipment of diesel from its production to Germany in September 2022, and that an agreement had been reached with Wilhelm Heuer GmbH on terms for the supply of up to 250,000 tons per month of diesel during 2023.
ADNOC also signed a number of agreements with customers from Germany to export trial shipments of low-carbon ammonia, which is a carrier fuel for hydrogen. It is noteworthy that the first trial shipment of low-carbon ammonia produced by Abu Dhabi arrived in the port of Hamburg early this month.

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For its part, the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company "Masdar" will intensify its efforts "to explore more opportunities in the wind energy markets in northern Europe and the Baltic Sea in Germany to increase production from renewable energy sources to 10 gigawatts by 2030," according to the agency.

Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, said, "We are pleased to sign this agreement, which contributes to strengthening and consolidating the strategic partnership between the two friendly countries, which has witnessed rapid development over the past years."
For his part, the Emirati president wrote in a tweet, "I was pleased today to receive Chancellor Olaf Scholz to push these relations forward and enable joint and sustainable economic growth by strengthening cooperation in priority areas including energy security, emission reduction and climate action."
Earlier on Sunday, the German chancellor stressed that his country was determined to diversify its energy resources so that it would not be held hostage by one supplier again, speaking of "progress" in talks he is holding in the Gulf to buy gas and diesel.
"The fact that we are linked to one supplier and its decisions will certainly not be repeated with us again," he said, referring to Russia, which supplies European countries with most of their oil and gas needs.
And he added, "We will do this a logical way, which is to focus on the areas that allow us to guarantee energy supplies," adding that "thanks to investments in Germany, which will become reality little by little next year, we will have an infrastructure to import gas to Germany so that we will not be linked directly to a specific resource through a pipeline. tubes".
On Friday, the French company "Total Energy" obtained a new stake in the Qatar project to increase its gas production, with its selection as a major partner in the expansion of the southern part of the huge North Field.
Under the agreement, Total Energy will own 9,375 percent of the total international partnership stakes of 25 percent, while Qatar Energy will own a 75 percent stake in the North-South expansion project.
Schultz considered that such projects are "important", considering that "we have to make sure that the production of liquefied gas in the world is progressing to a degree that can meet the current high demand," despite his stress on the need to continue work to shift towards clean energy sources.