DUBAI/LONDON: The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) Board of Governors chose Saudi Arabia’s candidate to be the group’s new head of research, the group said on Tuesday.
Saudi Arabia’s Ayed Al-Qahtani was up against candidates from three other members of OPEC — Qatar, Iraq and Libya — for the post, which is OPEC’s second most senior after the secretary-general.
OPEC’s talks about the post come as a dispute between Qatar and two of its Gulf Arab neighbors in OPEC, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, has raised the risk that political tension could hinder cooperation in OPEC, which is cutting output for the first time in eight years.
But the backdrop of tension between Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) OPEC members did not affect the meeting on Tuesday. Al-Qahtani was seen as the most likely candidate given his experience, two sources said before the meeting.
“This is a GCC issue but for OPEC we carry on,” another source close to OPEC said.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt all cut off diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of financing militant groups.
Al-Qahtani works at the Saudi Energy Ministry and is a member of the Saudi OPEC delegation. He has also worked for state oil company Saudi Aramco, where he was in charge of its global economic and energy outlooks and scenarios.
The OPEC governors, in their 149th Extraordinary Meeting at the group’s Vienna headquarters on Tuesday, also appointed Abderrezak Benyoucef of Algeria as the new head of the Energy Studies Department, and Behrooz Baikalizadeh of Iran as the new head of the Petroleum Studies Department.
They do not make decisions about production policy, which is set by the oil ministers. The Vienna-based OPEC Secretariat currently has 133 staff, comprising 42 nationalities.
Saudi official named OPEC’s new head of research
Saudi official named OPEC’s new head of research
European gas prices soar almost 50% as Iran conflict halts Qatar LNG output
- Analysts warn prolonged disruption could push prices higher
- Some shipments of oil, LNG through Strait of Hormuz suspended
- Benchmark Asian LNG price up almost 39 percent
LONDON: Benchmark Dutch and British wholesale gas prices soared by almost 50 percent on Monday, after major liquefied natural gas exporter Qatar Energy said it had halted production due to attacks in the Middle East.
Qatar, soon to cement its role as the world’s second largest LNG exporter after the US, plays a major role in balancing both Asian and European markets’ demand of LNG.
Most tanker owners, oil majors and trading houses have suspended crude oil, fuel and liquefied natural gas shipments via the Strait of Hormuz, trade sources said, after Tehran warned ships against moving through the waterway.
Europe has increased imports of LNG over the past few years as it seeks to phase out Russian gas following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Around 20 percent of the world’s LNG transits through the Strait of Hormuz and a prolonged suspension or full closure would increase global competition for other sources of the gas, driving up prices internationally.
“Disruptions to LNG flows would reignite competition between Asia and Europe for available cargoes,” said Massimo Di Odoardo, vice president, gas and LNG research at Wood Mackenzie.
The Dutch front-month contract at the TTF hub, seen as a benchmark price for Europe, was up €14.56 at €46.52 per megawatt hour, or around $15.92/mmBtu, by 12:55 p.m. GMT, ICE data showed.
Prices were already some 25 percent higher earlier in the day but extended gains after QatarEnergy’s production halt.
Benchmark Asian LNG prices jumped almost 39 percent on Monday morning with the S&P Global Energy Japan-Korea-Marker, widely used as an Asian LNG benchmark, at $15.068 per million British thermal units, Platts data showed.
“If LNG/gas markets start to price in an extended period of losses to Qatari LNG supply, TTF could potentially spike to 80-100 euros/MWh ($28-35/mmBtu),” Warren Patterson, head of commodities strategy at ING, said. The British April contract was up 40.83 pence at 119.40 pence per therm, ICE data showed.
Europe is also relying on LNG imports to help fill its gas storage sites which have been depleted over the winter and are currently around 30 percent full, the latest data from Gas Infrastructure Europe showed. In the European carbon market, the benchmark contract was down €1.10 at €69.17 a tonne
