Il Qatar, one of the world's largest exporters of liquefied natural gas and primary supplier of Europe and Italy after the United States, has suspended the sending of five tankers transporting LNG from the Red Sea after attempts by the Houthi rebels to hit ships in transit and after air raids Anglo-American coalition in Yemen. The news is reported by the Arab newspaper Gulf Gazette and is taken up by the international agency Bloomberg, which cites its own analysis of tracking commercial sea routes.
Le five gas tankers Qatari ships coming from the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Aden were headed towards the Strait of Bab el-Mandeb, at the southern end of the Red Sea: Three of the tankers were stopped by the authorities of the small Sunni emirate off the coast of Oman, one in the Red Sea and the other in the Mediterranean, near the Suez Canal.
Since supplies from Russia, for Italy, were interrupted Eni has concluded a series of agreements to permanently replace Russian gas by 2025, counting on relations with producing countries and increasing gas flows from Algeria, Egypt, Mozambique, Congo and Qatar.
Attention paid to gas supplies. Prices are falling for now
Obviously, attention also goes to the repercussions on gas distribution to Europe and possible price increases. At the moment the whole European Union is facing the current winter with levels of particularly high gas reserves and has no urgent need for immediate new supplies. On the markets, despite the news, i gas prices I am in downhill: around 15 pm on the Amsterdam TTF, gas lost 6,7% to 29,850 euros. According to MPS strategists interviewed by MF, the downward movement in European gas is due to "expectations of a rise in temperatures next week both in Europe and in the USA, in a context of stocks that still remain high".
Rodolfo Giampieri of Assoporti: duration can have an impact
“An excessive duration of this situation in Red Sea, even if it seems that there are slight signs of a return to a pseudo-normality, it affects the price on the shelf" said Rodolfo Giampieri, president of Assoporti, during the hearing on the milleproroghe bill before the joint Constitutional Affairs and Budget commissions of the Chamber . Prices, "at this stage have not yet been affected by speculation and inflation has not yet been affected, however it is clear that the duration may affect, if ships have to make longer voyages of a week and oil has already risen by 3%”.
Another ship was hit
Meanwhile aanother ship “was hit from above by a missile” south-east of the port city of Aden in southern Yemen, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which monitors traffic in the Red Sea, reported on its website without further details. Another British company specializing in maritime risks, Ambrey, said it was a US-owned merchant ship, adding that a fire broke out on board a US-owned bulk carrier flying the flag of the Marshall Islands, but there were no injuries and the cargo is still seaworthy.
