MOSCOW, March 3. /TASS/. The task of replenishing gas stocks by next winter is unrealistic for the European Union without Russian LNG and in the context of suspended supplies from Qatar through the Strait of Hormuz, Maria Belova, director of research at the consulting company Implementa, told TASS.

Europe finished the winter having drastically consumed its gas stockpiles (today underground gas storage facilities are less than a third filled), and countries in the region are yet to prepare for the 2026-2027 winter, she said.

"It cannot be ruled out that to ensure the required level of gas stocks of 90% by October, EU countries will have to purchase up to 80 bln cubic meters. In the context of a gradual phaseout of Russian LNG (the ban on LNG supplies under short-term contracts will come into force from April), and a possible halt in gas imports from Qatar and the UAE due to the shutdown of [the Strait of] Hormuz, it seems an unrealistic task. And what if the summer in Europe is going to be hot," the expert said.

Earlier, state-owned oil and gas company Qatar Energy announced suspension of production of LNG and related products due to Iran’s air strikes. Amid this background the price of gas on the exchange in Europe has surpassed $750 per 1,000 cubic meters for the first time since January 2023.

"These considerations in particular are pushing spot prices for gas on European trading platforms up now, even despite the fact that LNG passing through [the Strait of] Hormuz only provided 2% of European gas needs in 2025," Belova said.

Qatar is the world’s third largest LNG exporter after the US and Australia. Its LNG production capacity is 77 mln tons per annum. The country has also announced plans to expand its LNG plants to 142 mln tons.

The United States and Israel launched a large-scale military operation against Iran on February 28. Major Iranian cities, including Tehran, were struck. The White House justified the attack by citing alleged missile and nuclear threats from Iran. At the same time, US leadership openly called on the Iranian population to rise up against their government and seize power. As a result of the strikes, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and several other senior figures in the leadership of the Islamic Republic were killed. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced a retaliatory operation, targeting sites in Israel. US military bases in Bahrain, Jordan, Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia were also hit.