The comments, made on Saturday by Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, come after a Wall Street Journal report that Saudi Arabia is in accelerating talks with China to accept the yuan instead of dollars for oil bought by Beijing. Speaking to Hadley Gamble at the Doha Forum, al-Thani said he did not expect such a system to be introduced in the short term, but stressed that the economic consequences of the war in Ukraine hit some countries hard. “Honestly, look at what is happening and the momentum around us right now. I am sure there are many other countries that are unhappy with what happened and the consequences of the Ukrainian-Russian crisis, especially the economic consequences,” he said. “And they will look for and explore a parallel system [of pricing oil] Or it will compensate, at least, for them financially. So as we live in a transition, this transition will not only be a political transition, but it is also an economic transition. “
Oil differentiation
Qatar’s Al-Thani also said the country was “strengthening” and holding talks with European countries to boost gas supplies. “We are stepping up and helping some European partners who are starting to suffer from some gas shortages … with the limited amount we have,” he said, stressing that most of its gas contracts are long-term and so can not be changed. It comes as European countries seek to diversify their energy supply away from Russia – especially gas. The EU imported 45% of its natural gas from Russia last year, according to the International Energy Agency. On Friday, the United States said it was working with partners – including Qatar – to supply at least 15 billion cubic meters of additional liquefied natural gas to Europe this year, with that amount expected to increase in the future. However, Al-Thani said that no energy supplier can replace another. “I think the best way forward is to diversify the source of supply,” he added. “This will be the only way forward. We are in discussions with many other European countries right now, on new long-term contracts. And this discussion is just ongoing.”
