Tensions between Qatar and the United Arab Emirates remain high, with the UAE having closed their air and seaports to Qataris, and expelled all Qataris from the country, but Qatar Petroleum (QP) has insisted this will not impact exports of natural gas to the UAE.
The QP CEO Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, insisted that the force majeure clause in their contract with the UAE would’ve allowed them to halt exports over the blockade, but that they would not do so because they consider the Emirati people to be like brothers.
The pipeline pumps about 2 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day into the United Arab Emirates, and that loss would cause major energy disruptions for the country. Of course, halting the exports would also be an economic hardship on state-run QP, which wouldn’t have pipeline access to some alternative market if they suddenly lost the UAE as a customer.
Keeping the gas trade going is good for both sides, then, and doing so shows that while both sides’ governments continue to view one another hostilely, they are not willing to take steps that are too dramatic and would have particularly long-lasting effects on one another’s economies.