QatarEnergy extends force majeure until mid-August

QatarEnergy notifies major European customer of five additional LNG cargo cancellations

Italian utility Edison said on Monday that QatarEnergy has notified one of its biggest European customers that it will cancel five additional LNG cargoes, extending force majeure from early July until mid-August.

Edison's long-term contract with QatarEnergy

Edison holds a long-term contract with QatarEnergy for the supply of 6.4 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas per year to Italy, which has been impacted since April by disruptions linked to the Iran war.

Taking into account Monday's notification, a total of 17 LNG cargoes scheduled for delivery to the Adriatic LNG terminal in northern Italy are subject to force majeure, representing a volume of approximately 2.2 billion cubic meters of gas (bcm).

Edison's efforts to replace volumes

The utility, a unit of French energy group EDF, has been working on replacing the volumes, mainly via LNG coming from the United States. As of March 25, it replaced nine out of 17 cargoes cancelled by QatarEnergy, representing a volume of around 1 bcm of gas.

Edison's first-quarter operating profit halved mainly due to the negative effect of the force majeure declared by QatarEnergy. The group also trimmed its full-year guidance as a consequence of the uncertainty over the conflict in the Middle East.

The Italian company confirmed on Monday it did not anticipate any impact on its end customers.

Italy will likely begin receiving LNG from the Golden Pass LNG facility in the United States, a joint venture between QatarEnergy and Exxon Mobil, from June, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters in April.