German Chancellor Olaf Scholz plans to travel to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) this weekend, with Germany's energy needs expected to be high on the agenda.
In Qatar, the focus is likely to be on gas supplies. Scholz's economy minister, Robert Habeck, agreed on an energy partnership with the emirate in March, but there have been no concrete deals so far between the two countries.
Qatar is one of the world's largest exporters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) - one of the key sources of energy being sought by Berlin as a replacement for Russian fossil fuels in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine.
In Saudi Arabia, Scholz is due to meet Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said.
