TotalEnergies SE (TTE)

[eFinanceMarkets]

Qatar diplomatic cutoff causes no immediate impact on energy sector

Crude oil prices are volatile after Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the UAE and Egypt break diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing the country of backing terrorism activities; U.S. crude -0.9% at $47.23/bbl, Brent -1% at $49.44
and natural gas -0.2% at $2.99.

Market participants will be watching to see if OPEC member Qatar attempts to disrupt the oil production deal, but the country is not a major oil producer, accounting for ~2% of OPEC’s output and shipping 618K bbl/day in April.

However, Qatar is the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas, last year shipping 77.2M tons of LNG, equivalent to one-third of global supply, and only Russia and Iran have more proven gas reserves.

The dispute has not caused a direct impact on the regional energy sector so far; gas supplies reportedly are continuing from Qatar through the 3.2B cf/day Dolphin pipeline, a joint venture uniting UAE state-run Mubadala,

Total (NYSE:TOT) and Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY).