Oman and Germany are in advanced talks to seal a long-term supply deal for liquefied natural gas (LNG) that would see the Gulf state provide Berlin with between half a million to one million tons per year, according to informed sources that spoke with Reuters.

The negotiations reportedly involve German multinational energy company RWE and energy firms Uniper and Sefe, both of which were nationalized by Berlin last year.

Over recent months, Germany has been in a mad scramble to avert an energy catastrophe by replacing lost Russian fuel following the destruction of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline at the hands of the US government.

In September, RWE signed an LNG supply deal with the UAE during a visit by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to the Gulf. On this trip, Scholz also approved new arms deals with Saudi Arabia to secure fuel resources.

Europe’s biggest economy hopes to replace all Russian energy imports by mid-2024, a herculean effort for a country that relies greatly on natural gas to power its industry.

As part of this push, in November, Qatar’s state-run conglomerate QatarEnergy signed two sales and purchase agreements with US multinational ConocoPhillips to export two million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Germany for at least 15 years starting in 2026.

Iraq has also been in talks to supply Germany with LNG.

Once completed, the deal between Germany and Oman will become the latest in Muscat’s list of long-term agreements for LNG supplies.

Over the past three months alone, the sultanate’s state-owned energy company Oman LNG has signed multiyear deals with China, Turkiye, and Japan.

Oman LNG operates three LNG trains with a total capacity of 10.4 million tons per year.