Qatar's Energy Minister, Saad Al Kaabi, has threatened to stop gas supply to European Union (EU) nations if they impose new stringent laws against forced labor and environmental damage.
In an interview with The Financial Times on Sunday (December 22), he criticized the EU’s recently passed Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence law. The law mandates hefty penalties for labor law violations, with fines up to 5% of a company's annual profit.
Qatar strongly opposes this law, arguing that such fines would significantly impact its revenue. Al Kaabi stated, "Losing 5% of QatarEnergy’s revenue is equivalent to 5% of Qatar's national revenue, which is unacceptable. If forced to bear such losses, we simply won’t operate in Europe."
He urged the EU to reconsider the labor law, emphasizing that such measures would harm relations.
Despite competition from the U.S., Qatar remains a leading LNG exporter and plans to expand its liquefaction capacity from 77 million tons to 142 million tons annually by 2027.
(Sources: Reuters, BBC, Al Arabiya)
