Qatar tells Kuwait no summer electricity

POWER SUPPLY: Qatar has said it has no available electricity to sell to Kuwait now. (Getty Images)

Qatar has told Kuwait it cannot supply it with electricity this summer, al-Watan newspaper reported on Tuesday, citing an unidentified official at the Kuwaiti ministry of electricity.

The official was quoted as saying Qatar has said it has no available electricity to sell to Kuwait now. The official gave no reasons.

"We will try to get electricity from Qatar for the summer of 2010," al-Watan quoted the official as saying.

Officials at the ministry were not immediately available for comment.

In April, an electricity ministry official said Kuwait was hoping to sign a deal soon to import electricity from Qatar to help meet peak summer demand, in the first agreement to use a new Gulf power grid. The initial deal was to buy about 500 megawatts of electricity this summer from Qatar.

Kuwait, the world's fourth-largest oil exporter, has one of the highest per capita power consumption rates in the world and has struggled to keep up with growing demand. Annual demand peaks when temperatures hit 50 degrees Celsius in the summer.

Gulf Arab countries have hooked up the first phase of a $1.4bn regional power grid, which will begin full operation in May 2010, hoping it will help meet spiralling power needs.

Last week, Kuwait's oil minister said the country is still in talks with Qatar to import liquefied natural gas but is not happy with the proposed terms of agreement. (Reuters)

Print | Email | Discuss this article

| Share |

READERS' COMMENTS

Click here to post a comment

Add your Comment All posts are sent to the administrator for review and are published only after approval. ArabianBusiness.com reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Arabian Business would like to point out that only comments relevant to the story will be published. Any containing personal insults or inappropriate language will not be approved.
Name *
Remember me on this computer
Email *	(Your email address will not be published)
City
Country
Subject *
Comment *
Notify me of further comments
Enter the words above *
Please click post only once - your comment will not be published immediately.

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM