QatarEnergy extends the force majeure for Edison LNG until early July

The 'Italian' utility said that QatarEnergy has informed its largest Italian customer, Edison, of the cancellation of two more liquefied gas (LNG).

Edison, an EDF unit, announced in a press release that QatarEnergy will not deliver two more cargoes to add to the ten that have already been cancelled following the start of the U.S. and Israeli war against Iran.

In March, QatarEnergy CEO and State Minister for Energy Affairs, said that Iranian attacks had knocked down 17% of Qatar's LNG-export capacity. This posed a threat to supplies in Europe and Asia.

The utility stated that based on the information it has received to date, Edison expects future deliveries from QatarEnergy to be reduced by around a third of the contracted annual volumes. This is before any mitigation measures are taken into consideration.

QatarEnergy has signed a long-term agreement with the Italian company for 6.4 billion cubic meters (bcms) of gas each year. This is 10% of Italy’s total annual gas consumption.

"Edison confirms it does not anticipate any impact on their end customers due to the mitigation measures

"We have already undertaken the portfolio management activities and are currently implementing them," it stated.

It added that eight LNG cargoes, which were cancelled, have already been replaced. This corresponds to approximately 1 bcm gas.

Four people familiar with the situation said last week that the French utility EDF had pushed back the decision to sell a stake in Edison because the war in Iran has caused disruptions in the LNG imports from Qatar, which Edison uses. (Reporting and editing by Francesca Landini; Editing by David Gregorio).

(source: Reuters)