Edison, South Asian gas buyers face QatarEnergy supply halt until year-end

By Francesca Landini and Gianluca Semeraro

MILAN, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Edison and some South Asian clients of QatarEnergy will not receive liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Gulf supplier until the end of this year, the Italian utility and market sources said on Tuesday.

In a message on the platform of Italy's energy markets manager GME, Edison said QatarEnergy had extended force majeure on LNG deliveries to end-December from a previous early-December deadline.

A further three LNG cargoes that were intended for the Italian utility — one of Qatar's biggest customers in Europe — will be affected by the suspension, Edison said. 

Clients in Pakistan and Bangladesh were also informed that force majeure notices had been extended until the end of this year, one person with knowledge of the matter and state-run Petrobangla told Reuters.

"We are trying to secure additional spot cargoes to bridge the supply gap, but at a significant cost, driving our import bill sharply higher and putting considerable pressure on our finances," said Petrobangla Chairman Abdul Mannan.

For India's Petronet LNG, Qatar has extended force majeure on LNG supplies for November, a source with knowledge of the matter said.

QatarEnergy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Gulf supplier has cancelled deliveries to Edison since April due to disruptions caused by the Iran war, which began in late February.

Edison holds a long-term contract with QatarEnergy for the supply of 6.4 billion cubic metres of natural gas per year to Italy, around 10% of the country's annual consumption.

The contract, which has been in force since 2009, has a total duration of 25 years.

The lack of supply from Qatar, a low level of gas storage in Europe and gradually cooler weather have pushed the benchmark Dutch price for gas to above €95 per megawatt hour this week, close to its highest levels since December 2022.

(Additional reporting by Emily Chow in Singapore,Ruma Paul in Dhaka and Nidhi Verma in Goa; editing by Alvise Armellini, Alexandra Hudson)