After peace agreement, Edison expects to receive 2/3 of the contracted Qatari LNG supplies

QatarEnergy’s European customer Edison anticipates that the 'Gulf' producer will be able initially to supply around two-thirds of contracted volumes after any 'peace' deal between the United States & Iran. The CEO of the Italian group said this on Friday.

Speaking at an event held in Milan, Nicola Monti said that the supply would resume 30-45 days following a contract. Qatar declared Force Majeure in its long-term contract with Edison, an energy unit of the French group EDF earlier this year. It has cancelled 12 LNG cargoes that were due to arrive to Italy between April and July.

Monti stated that if a lasting agreement were to be reached tomorrow, "I believe that producers in the Gulf region could resume production within a week, or even a week and a half," Monti.

"As far as Qatar is concerned, we can expect LNG supply to resume after a few weeks or months, but with a smaller amount than before." In March, QatarEnergy CEO and State Minister for Energy Affairs told reporters that the Iranian attacks had knocked down 17% of Qatar LNG export capacity.

Two of QatarEnergy’s 14 liquefaction train suffered significant damages, including one within the joint venture that supplies Edison. Edison has a long-term contract valued at?6.4 billion cubic meters of gas per annum, or 10% of Italy’s annual gas consumption.

Monti said that QatarEnergy had kept a?some production at minimum levels? by exporting LNG to Kuwait. This allowed it to resume deliveries outside the Gulf fairly quickly. Two sources told us last month that Italy will begin receiving LNG in June from the Golden Pass facility, a joint venture of QatarEnergy with Exxon Mobil. (Reporting and editing by Francesca Landini; Kirsten Donovan, Gianluca Smeraro)

(source: Reuters)