German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has signed a fuel deal with the leaders of the United Arab Emirates, or UAE, a two-day stopover in the Gulf, as Europe’s largest economy continues its efforts to find opportunities for Russian supplies.
Scholz met with UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi on Sunday to secure new deliveries of liquefied herbal gas, or LNG, from the Gulf state, the UAE’s official news firm, WAM, reported.
The contract foresees the delivery of 137,000 cubic meters of LNG that will reach northern Germany until the end of this year, according to German utility RWE.
Scholz visited Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar on his trip, seeking to deepen ties with the Gulf and locate energy resources of choice after Germany pledged to reduce its dependence on Russian gas.
Before the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, Germany had bought about 55% of its fuel from Moscow, German news service DW reported. Since then, fuel from Russia has been limited, driving up energy prices in Europe. it bought the country’s main energy supplier, Uniper.
“We want to make sure that LNG production around the world is complex to the point where the most important demand can be met by having to adapt to the production capacity that exists in Russia,” Scholz said ahead of the deal.
The chancellor also pressed the need for a wider diversity of resources for Germany’s energy needs, saying relying on a single source “will not happen again. “
The deal, with Abu Dhabi’s national oil company, or ADNOC, includes a multi-year LNG supply memorandum, Reuters reported, noting that ADNOC also agreed to reserve an unspecified number of LNG cargoes for Germany in 2023.
German terminals will eventually process up to 12. 5 billion cubic meters of LNG per year, or 13% of the country’s fuel consumption, according to data from research firm Enerknowledge.
“This marks a step in the construction of LNG source infrastructure in Germany and the construction of a more diversified fuel source,” RWE said in a statement.
The fuel deal is a component of the broader agreement on energy security and industry acceleration between Germany and the UAE, which will “enable the implementation of strategic flagship projects in the spaces of renewable energy, hydrogen, LNG and climate action precedence,” Scholz said.
The chancellor also signed an agreement with the UAE for the source of diesel to Germany this month, and other monthly diesel deliveries.