Qatar says its mega gas projects are completed

Qatar has completed mega gas projects it launched nearly 15 years ago to become the world’s top liquefied natural gas exporter by pumping a staggering 77 million tonnes per year, a Qatari official said on Monday.

The Gulf country, an Opec oil producer, has invited hundreds of hydrocarbon executives and other guests for a grand ceremony in December to announce the completion of the projects that are believed to have involved investment of more than $100 billion, a spokesman for the government-controlled Qatar Petroleum (QP) told Emirates 24|7 at an international oil showed in the capital.

The spokesman, who asked not to be named, said Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani would inaugurate the sixth and seventh production trains, the latest in a series of production lines in the country’s LNG industry.

“With the inauguration of these two production trains, Qatar will be producing close to 77m tonnes of LNG per year,” he said.

“All projects have been completed and a grand ceremony will be held on December 22 to mark this great achievement in Qatar’s history…we launched such projects in mid 1990s and we have completed them on time……the targeted output has been attained according to the defined plan and there was no delay despite the global financial crisis.”

The spokesman said most of the output has already been contracted under long-term supply deals with many countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas.

“As for the future, we have the capacity to pump more LNG from the North Field but any new project will depend on market conditions….any thing is possible.”

Qatar launched mega LNG projects in early 1990s to tap its giant offshore North Field, the world’s largest reservoir of non-associated gas, formally estimated at more than 900 trillion cubic feet at the end of 2009.

The rapid rise in LNG sales over the past years has turned Qatar into one of the wealthiest nations in terms of GDP per capita income and allowed it to record large fiscal and current account surpluses. The country’s economy has also recorded one of the highest growth rates in the world over the past decade.

QP, which manages the nation’s hydrocarbon resources, has approved a staggering Dh147bn for oil and gas projects in the current five-year plan ending in 2013, its largest energy investment scheme.

The investments include around QR23bn in crude oil capacity expansion, QR61.8bn in LNG projects, QR16.1bn in petrochemicals, QR18.9bn in energy industrial cities and the rest in refining and gas processing.

Oil expansion projects are expected to boost Qatar’s crude production capacity from around 844,000 barrels per day at the end of 2009 to 1.055 million bpd at the end of 2010, according to the study.

Qatar’s LNG production was close to nearly 50 million tones in 2009 and the installation of the latest two production trains by Qatar Gas lifted output to the targeted 77m tonnes, more than a fifth of the world’s LNG supplies.

LNG exports fetched Qatar around QR60bn in 2008 and the income is believed to have sharply increased in 2009 because of higher output.

The income in 2008 was earned from exports of about 30.4m tonnes of LNG, nearly 28 per cent of the country’s total exports.

Official data showed South Korean was the top buyer of Qatari LNG in 2008, importing around 8.5m tonnes. India was second, with around 7.5m tonnes, followed by Japan with imports of 6.9m tones. Other key importers were Spain with 3.5m tonnes and Belgium with 2.2m tonnes.

The figures showed LNG contribution to Qatar’s gross domestic product overtook the oil sector for the first time last year following a surge in gas production and a sharp fall in oil prices and the country’s crude output.

The North Field straddles the territorial waters of Qatar and Iran and its reserves are believed to be sufficient for nearly a century.

Besides LNG exports, Qatar is also pumping natural gas to the UAE and Oman though the 360-km Dolphin subsea pipeline. It is also considering supplying gas from its North Field to nearby Bahrain and Kuwait.

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