DOHA, January 7. /TASS/. Qatari Foreign Ministry Spokesman Majed bin Mohammed al-Ansari said reports suggesting the country could send its natural gas to Europe through Syria and Turkey are nothing more than rumors.
"We have all seen the speculation in the media about this gas pipeline. It is nothing but media speculation," he said when asked by TASS about the prospects of building a pipeline to Syria and Turkey to supply natural gas to Europe.
"We in Qatar are determined to support the Syrian people in terms of humanitarian and technical assistance, as is the case with Damascus International Airport, and also discuss all kinds of technical assistance [to rebuild] infrastructure. On the economic level, as far as gas supplies are concerned, we cannot say anything on this issue," the official, who is also an adviser to the prime minister, went on to say.
According to al-Ansari, Doha is currently focused on preserving stability in Syria and "meeting the needs of the Syrian people."
The possibility of building a Qatar-Turkey pipeline has been discussed since 2009, but the implementation of the project, according to Ankara, ran into the opposition of the former Syrian authorities. On January 4, Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar said Qatari gas could travel to Europe through Turkey, provided that a safe transportation system is built in Syria and the country and the region are stable.
Qatar ranks as the world’s third-largest holder of natural gas reserves and the sixth-largest natural gas producer. According to the Gas Exporting Countries Forum, Qatar became the third-largest exporter of liquefied natural gas after the US and Australia in November 2024.