Qatar PM pledges to prioritise China energy supplies amid regional tensions

Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani pledged that Doha will continue prioritising stable energy supplies to China even as tensions across the Middle East persist, reaffirming a strategic partnership that has deepened over the past decade. The commitment builds on a series of long-term liquefied natural gas agreements between QatarEnergy and major Chinese state firms. In 2021, QatarEnergy signed 27-year supply deals with Sinopec, PetroChina and CNOOC, each securing several million tonnes of LNG annually, among the longest contracts in the industry's history. Sinopec deepened the relationship further in 2023 by taking an equity stake in the North Field South expansion project, one of the phases of Qatar's giant North Field development that is expanding the country's LNG production capacity from 77 million tonnes a year to 142 million tonnes by the end of the decade. China has become one of the top destinations for Qatari LNG, alongside other major Asian buyers, as Beijing seeks to diversify energy imports away from routes vulnerable to disruption in the Strait of Hormuz and the wider Gulf. Qatar, one of the world's largest LNG exporters together with the United States and Australia, has positioned itself as a reliable supplier capable of honouring contracts regardless of regional volatility, including the ongoing war in Gaza and heightened friction between Iran and Western powers. For Doha, maintaining uninterrupted flows to Beijing reinforces its broader diplomatic strategy of balancing ties with major powers while leveraging its energy resources as a tool of geopolitical stability, a role Qatari officials have repeatedly emphasised since the 2022 World Cup elevated the country's global profile.