Qatar's energy minister has warned the "worst is yet to come" for Europe's oil and gas shortages, saying a warm winter had prevented greater difficulties in recent months.

"The only thing that saved humanity and Europe this year was a warm winter, and the slowdown in the economy," Qatari Energy Minister Saad al Kaabi told the Qatar Economic Forum on Tuesday.

"If the economy starts churning back up in (2024) and you have just a regular winter, I think the worst is yet to come."

After Russia's attacks on Ukraine sparked an energy supply crisis, Europe dodged serious problems this past winter largely because of milder-than-expected temperatures.

But Kaabi and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman, both told the conference that an energy crunch was looming.

"If they don't realise that and have a proper plan and sit down with producers and oil and gas companies are not demonised, reality will kick in and we'll have a sensible solution," Kaabi said.