#Qatar can't help red hot gas markets as production at maximum | Reuters

Qatar can't help red hot gas markets as production at maximum | Reuters

Qatar, the world's largest supplier of liquefied natural gas, said on Monday it can't help ease the red hot gas market because it has allocated all its output and believes the high prices are destructive for demand.

"We are maxed out as far as we have given all our customers their due quantities," Qatar's energy minister Saad al-Kaabi said.

He said he expected gas prices to "ease off slightly" as some plants come back up and with Russia's pledge to increase supplies to Europe, but high prices were not good.

"I am unhappy about gas prices being high," he said, adding that the U.S. market would "feel the pressure soon" and that customers are already feeling the effects by paying more for electricity.

"The lesson is more long-term deals. Even if I can benefit from short-term spikes like this, I don't like it because it is destructive to demand, it hurts my customer and my customer needs to be healthy for me to be healthy,” he said.