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EU wants big companies to focus on sustainability, due

diligence

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Qatar and US warn rules pose a risk to EU's energy

supplies

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EU relying more on Qatar, US energy amid tensions with

Russia

(Adds details throughout)

By Tala Ramadan and Ahmed Elimam

Oct 22 (Reuters) - Qatar and the U.S. have written to EU

heads of state expressing concern over the bloc's corporate

sustainability rules and their potential impact on liquefied

natural gas exports, a statement from QatarEnergy showed on

Wednesday.

Last week, Qatar's energy minister, Saad al-Kaabi, told

Reuters that Qatar would not be able to do business in the EU,

including supplying Europe with LNG to plug its energy gap,

unless more changes are made to its Corporate Sustainability Due

Diligence Directive.

The letter signed by Kaabi and U.S. Energy Secretary Chris

Wright said the directive "poses a significant risk to the

affordability and reliability of critical energy supplies for

households and businesses across Europe and an existential

threat to the future growth, competitiveness, and resilience of

the EU's industrial economy."

QATAR SAYS PROPOSED WATERING DOWN OF RULES NOT ENOUGH

The EU rule requires larger companies operating in the bloc

to find and fix human rights and environmental issues in their

supply chains or face financial penalties.

The European Commission did not immediately reply to a

request for comment.

Last week, the European Parliament's legal committee backed

plans to water down the law, having faced pushback from

companies, but Kaabi said the changes did not address key

concerns.

Qatar has been supplying between 12% and 14% of Europe's LNG

since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

QatarEnergy has established long-term supply contracts with

major energy companies, including Britain's Shell,

France's TotalEnergies and Italy's ENI.

Europe is expected to import up to 160 additional LNG

cargoes this winter due to lower storage levels and a decline in

pipeline flows from Russia and Algeria, according to analysts

and data. This situation is likely to increase Europe's

dependency on U.S. gas.