What Happened: The European Commission launched an antitrust investigation June 21 against Qatar Petroleum over territorial restriction clauses in natural gas supply contracts that appear to restrict buyers from selling on or diverting their cargoes to different purchasers, the Financial Times reported.
Why It Matters: The investigation will likely last several years and Qatar Petroleum will seek a settlement if the European Commission determines that the company violated EU antitrust laws.
Background: The Commission's investigation follows a seven-year antitrust case into Russian natural gas company Gazprom's practices in the European market which included restricting consumers from reselling natural gas to other natural gas companies.
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- EU: Russia Wins a Battle of in Its War of Pipelines (March 7, 2018)
