At the ADIPEC Energy Forum in Abu Dhabi on November 3, leaders of Exxon Mobil (US) and Qatarenergy (Qatar) simultaneously issued a warning: If the EU Union passes the current CSDDD Directive, it could withdraw from the European market - which is heavily dependent on imported gas.
According to the draft, CSDDD requires all EU-based businesses to be responsible for environmental and human rights risks throughout the supply chain, including outside Europe. Large enterprises are also forced to have climate plans in line with the Paris Agreement's 1.5C target, otherwise they will be fined up to 5% of global revenue.
Exxon Mobil Darren Woods said the law would have catastrophic consequences. The amazing thing is that they require us to comply everywhere in the world, even though that activity has nothing to do with Europe, he said.
Qatar Energy Minister and CEOenergy Saad al-Kaabi goes further, saying Qatar has prepared a scenario to stop LNG exports to the EU if Brussels does not change. Europe needs to understand that it still needs gas from Qatar, from the US. They should take this issue seriously, he said.
Exxon Mobil and Qatarenergy are now Europe's two largest suppliers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) since the bloc cut off imports of Russian gas.
The US currently accounts for nearly 50% of the EU's LNG imports, while Qatar supplies 12-14%, mainly via Shell, Totalenergies and ENI.
If these two supply sources are simultaneously "broken", Europe could repeat the energy crisis, especially in the winter.
Mr. Woods also said that requiring energy corporations to prove the roadmap to achieve net zero emissions is technically unfeasible. Meanwhile, Qatar considers this condition unrealistic, as LNG producers are still expanding capacity to make up for the shortage after the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Although the European Parliament has agreed to renegotiate, the EU still wants to complete the law before the end of 2025.
Washington and Doha are both pushing for Brussels to ease regulations, warning that otherwise, Europe will pay the price when supply is stifled by its own green law.
