Taiwan’s natural gas supply remains stable through the end of May, despite rising concerns about potential disruptions to Qatari liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies due to escalating conflicts in the Middle East, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.
The ministry in a statement said that Taiwan has completed preparations for natural gas supply and shipping schedules through the end of May.
It has also made plans to increase natural gas imports from regions outside the Middle East in June to ensure a stable supply, it added.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
Taiwan sources natural gas from 14 countries and is not solely dependent on the Middle East, the ministry said.
In response to heightened geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, state-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (台灣中油) has further expanded its allocation of gas sources outside the Middle East to ensure sufficient gas supply, it said.
“There is absolutely no natural gas shortage crisis as reported by foreign media,” the ministry said.
The remarks came after the Financial Times on Sunday reported that the Middle East’s LNG supplies would abruptly end within 10 days, when final tankers from the region reach their destinations.
The report warned of a potential “cliff edge” in the global natural gas supply, which would affect countries like Taiwan that are highly dependent on the region’s energy supplies.
Taiwan sources about one-third of its natural gas from Qatar. In June 2024, CPC signed a 27-year LNG supply deal with QatarEnergy to secure long-term supplies.
However, the emirate’s state-run energy firm last week said it could declare force majeure on long-term supply contracts following attacks by Iran on its major LNG facilities in Ras Laffan, and that it would take years to repair some of them.
The ministry yesterday said that it has established an energy response team to conduct daily inventory checks and dispatches on natural gas.
The nation’s natural gas stockpiles are above the legally mandated minimum, which ensures that domestic gas and power supplies remain secure, it said.
Global LNG exports have fallen to a six-month low, with the 10-day moving average for LNG shipments down about 20 percent from the start of this month to 1.1 million tonnes, a Bloomberg analysis of ship-tracking data on Kpler showed.
The drop is primarily from Qatar — and to a lesser extent the United Arab Emirates — due to Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for about one-fifth of global LNG flows, Bloomberg News reported yesterday.
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