As planes begin their descent into Doha, passengers can look down at the brand new 80,000-seat stadium rising from the desert that will host the final of the World Cup in December. They may also notice another striking image: tankers lined up in the Persian Gulf to collect super-chilled natural gas.
Football and an increasingly indispensable fuel may have little in common, yet they are coming together to give Qatar outsized influence on the global stage. As the World Cup showcases its ability to acquire international prestige, Qatar’s status as a much-coveted gas supplier is promising to turn the tiny peninsula into the bigger player it always aspired to be.
Soaring oil prices because of the war in Ukraine have boosted Middle East oil producers like Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, but the financial and geopolitical rewards on offer for Qatar make it the standout winner after Vladimir Putin’s invasion forced Europe to start weaning itself off Russian energy imports.
Several of the European Union’s most senior officials have flown to Doha in recent weeks, all with a clear message: we need your gas as fast as possible. Germany has told businesses to start negotiating supply deals. The urgency became more acute this week after Russia cut off supplies to Poland and Bulgaria.
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