Germany plans to purchase liquefied gas from UAE to reduce dependence on Russia

This is reported by Bloomberg.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is understood to be likely to sign LNG supply contracts during a two-day trip to the Middle East, Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Monday (September 19th), indicating that negotiations have progressed well, particularly with the UAE.

"The supply of gas is gradually expanding, and the government is constantly negotiating with many countries, as well as with the countries of the Arabian Peninsula. The chancellor is going to the UAE and will undoubtedly be able to sign some LNG contracts there," Habeck added.

"But it's not just the UAE, it's also other countries, in particular African countries. In this way, we will close the hole caused by the lack of Russian gas," he said.

Scholz also plans to visit Saudi Arabia and Qatar during the trip, which begins Saturday.  Energy cooperation is high on his agenda, government spokesman Steffen Gebeschreit said at another press conference in Berlin on Monday.

Thus, the German government is trying to offset Russian supplies after the Kremlin shut down the key Nord Stream 1 pipeline.

Germany and Qatar are negotiating possible LNG supplies after the start of full-scale hostilities, but there are no signs of a breakthrough in the talks yet.

Negotiations with one of the world's largest LNG exporters are particularly difficult, according to German government officials.  They described Qatar's strategy as playing hardball on the price and duration of potential deals.

Discussions with gas suppliers in Europe and North America proved equally difficult.

Scholz's first stop on his trip will be Saudi Arabia, where he will meet with the king as well as Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the country's de facto ruler. On Sunday, he will be in the UAE and Qatar, and in the evening he will return to Berlin.