Biden names Qatar major non-NATO ally as energy crisis looms

PTI, Feb 1, 2022, 8:10 AM IST

Image credit: AP Photo/Alex Brandon

Washington DC: President Joe Biden on Tuesday designated Qatar a major non-NATO ally, a largely symbolic honour but one that was meant to convey his administration’s gratitude for the tiny Persian Gulf nation’s assistance with evacuations from Afghanistan and in ending last year’s Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

Biden announced the designation during a meeting with the ruling leader of Qatar at the White House. It comes as he looks for the gas-rich nation to step up again to help the West as it faces the prospect of a European energy crunch if Russia invades Ukraine. ”Qatar is a good friend and a reliable partner,” Biden said hours before officially informing Congress of the designation. “It’s long overdue.” The move could be helpful in Qatar’s bid to get US approval for a more than USD 500 million sale of MQ-9 Reaper drones The request has been languishing since 2020, when Trump was still in office.

A senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the decision, said the non-NATO ally designation was not tied to Biden’s hopes for Qatar to help European allies with an energy contingency plan should Russia invade Ukraine. The official, who was not authorized to comment publicly, said the designation was for Qatar’s help in Afghanistan and the Middle East.

Qatar played a central role in aiding last summer’s US military evacuations of Afghans who helped the US war effort along with American citizens. Qatar also hosts the biggest US air base in the Middle East and served as a go-between with the Taliban for the last three administrations as they tried to wind down America’s longest war. Qatar is the 18th country to receive this designation, the last being Brazil in 2019. The designation provides benefits in defense trade and security cooperation, including eligibility for loan programs and priority delivery for certain military sales. “We’re very happy and proud of this great relationship,” said Qatar’s ruling emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. ”We will continue working together to find ways and means to bring peace in our region.” The country was an essential go-between with Hamas during last year’s 11-day conflict that administration officials worried could have turned into a longer and bloodier war.

Now, with some 100,000 Russian troops massed at the Ukraine border, experts say Qatar — the world’s second-biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas, or LNG — is eager to help again but might only be able to offer limited assistance if Russia further disrupts the flow of energy supplies to Europe.

“Qatar sees this as an opportunity to further improve its relationship with the U.S. after Afghanistan,’” said Yesar Al-Maleki, an energy economist at the Middle East Institute in Washington. “But it is going to be very hard to do because there isn’t excess supply.” Qatar is already producing at full capacity with much of its supply under contract to Asia. Even if some Pacific allies of the US — including India, Japan and South Korea — are persuaded to divert some LNG orders it has contracted to Europe, it will only have a small impact in softening the blow, according to energy analysts.

White House officials have been in talks with Asian partners about contingency planning, according to the senior administration official.

Biden and Tamim also used Monday’s meeting to discuss Middle East security and the situation in Afghanistan, where humanitarian conditions have deteriorated in the aftermath of last year’s US withdrawal and the Taliban takeover. The leaders also discussed US efforts to resurrect the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.

But a possible contingency plan should Russia move to cut Europe from gas supplies was perhaps the most pressing matter on the agenda. The Biden administration says the still-developing plan won’t just lean on “one or two” suppliers. Instead, the effort would require ”a multitude of sources” to make up for a Russian cutoff, according to a senior Biden administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Suppliers in Australia — the world’s biggest LNG supplier — as well as Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and the United States are among those that Biden administration officials have looked to assist if needed.

Natural gas future prices surged last week amid growing market fears that a potential conflict could disrupt Russian exports transiting through Ukraine to Europe. The crunch has been worsened by Russia, which typically supplies about 40 per cent of Europe’s natural gas supply, reducing its exports by about 25 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021 compared with the same period in 2020 despite high worldwide prices.

Any Russian invasion into Ukraine would almost surely trigger economic sanctions from the US and its European allies. That could lead to oil and gas shortages around the world and, most likely, higher energy prices that could send tremors through the global economy.

Russia has repeatedly said it has no intention of invading Ukraine even as the Biden administration has warned that military action could be “imminent.” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has dismissed concerns that Russia could cut off European gas supplies as “fake hysteria.”