Is Qatar trying to squeeze Egypt on LNG? Qatar reportedly refused to sell LNG to third-party traders the statelet thought were buying on Egypt’s behalf, according to Reuters. Since the diplomatic rift between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain came to a head, requests by at least two companies to ship additional LNG from Qatar to Egypt have been rejected without explanation, according to trade sources who feel Qatar is reluctant to expand LNG trade with Egypt in light of the Quartet’s blockade. A Qatar Petroleum spokesman denied this, saying that Qatar will “continue to honor all their commitments and to actively engage with all counterparties, regarding mutually beneficial LNG market opportunities." Other traders believe that the restrictions, if proven true, would only hurt those with open positions. Long term contract traders have mostly secured their LNG.

…Government sources tell Al Mal that if Qatar did reject traders’ request for LNG it would likely be for short-term contracts only. The source gave reassurances that Egypt has no direct contracts with the Qatari government to import gas and that all LNG imports are contracted to third parties. It is worth noting that Qatar supplies around 60% of Egypt’s LNG through trading houses such as Trafigura, Glencore, Vitol and Noble Group, according to Reuters.

The UAE has the right idea: Not willing to take a chance and be backed into a corner, the UAE has begun importing condensates from the US in a bid to reduce its reliance on Qatari imports — its normal supply avenue — Reuters reports.