EU praises Azerbaijani gas partnership amid energy disruption triggered by Middle East crisis in Oil & Companies News 06/03/2026 Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen said Azerbaijan’s gas supplies will remain an important backbone of the EU’s energy security as the bloc deals with a new energy crisis following the suspension of LNG shipments from Qatar and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. European Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen hailed his visit to Azerbaijan on Tuesday as “fruitful” as the European Union deals with the halt in liquid natural gas (LNG) production from Qatar, an important energy exporter, and the impact of the Strait of Hormuz’s closure amid the conflict in the Middle East. Diversification, energy security and clean transition are top priorities. This is even more important in the context of the ongoing tensions in the Middle East,” Jørgensen wrote on X, as EU imports from Qatar accounted for 8% in 2025, according to real-time data and intelligence market Kpler Insight. The EU is suffering collateral economic impact from the escalating conflict in the Middle East, which began with strikes on Iran by the United States and Israel over the weekend. As a response to the offensive, which has already killed the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran has been striking US military bases across the Gulf States. The result has been a surge in oil and natural gas prices and the closure of the critical Strait of Hormuz. Lying between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman, the strait is a narrow shipping corridor largely under Iranian control, and serves as one of the world’s most critical energy choke points for oil and LNG, including shipments from Qatar. But Qatari supplies of the superchilled fuel won’t be reaching European ports in the near future, with state-owned QatarEnergy announcing on Monday that it has suspended LNG production altogether following Iranian attacks on the company’s operating facilities in Ras Laffan and Mesaieed. “As we continue to reduce our dependencies on Russian gas, the importance of our partnership with Azerbaijan will increase, bringing benefits for Europe’s energy security and Azerbaijan’s economy,” said Jørgensen on the sidelines of a high-level energy meeting held in Baku. US and Norway major suppliers On Tuesday, a Commission spokesperson rejected the notion of a supply crisis, hailing the United States and Norway as key reliable partners in fuel supply while recognising that the top concern is to keep prices stable. Until February 26, US LNG imports accounted for 56% of the bloc’s total, while Norway accounted for 4%, according to Kpler Insight data. “We will reassess if something changes,” the Commission spokesperson told Euronews. “Nothing points to a problem. We have a very diversified supply chain, more global than European. But the prices are a concern for sure, but not how to get the gas.” Currently, EU gas storage stands at 30%, compared to 38% this time last year, according to Charles Costerousse, senior LNG & natural gas analyst at data and intelligence market Kpler Insight. Before the Middle East’s severe crisis, the energy analyst expected storage levels to hit 89% by 1 November due to incoming supply, mainly from the US. “We are currently revising this number as part of our monthly LNG report, so it could change in the next few days. If LNG supply disruptions were to persist, we could see this number dip a little, but we are still assessing the impact,” Costerousse told E