Gas projects boosted Qatar’s 'credibility'

Qatar has achieved its long-standing target of pumping around 77 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and this accomplishment has boosted its credibility in global markets, its energy minister has said.

Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah said Qatar has invited scores of officials and executives from the region and other countries for a ground-breaking ceremony next month to celebrate that accomplishment.

“When Qatar declared a few years ago that its target is to produce 77 million tonnes of LNG, this target was considered as an ambition,” he said in comments carried by Qatar’s official media on Friday.

“Today, Qatar attained this ambition and built a strategy that allows it to reach all markets…this great achievement was a result of sound planning, which in turn enabled Qatar to build a unique credibility in the world energy community.”

Attiyah said Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani would attend the December 13 ceremony at Ras Laffan industrial city, some 80 km north of Doha.

“Guests from Qatar and all over the world will come to the ceremony…it is an honour to have this event to declare Qatar as the world’s largest LNG producer.”

Qatar, a tiny OPEC member but controls the world’s third largest natural gas wealth, has pumped in excess of $70 billion into its LNG projects to tap its gigantic offshore North Field, the largest single gas reservoir on earth.

The country has also approved a massive scheme to pump more than QR145 billion into its gas and other hydrocarbon industries within its latest five-year development plan that stretches until 2013, according to an official report.

Qatar launched LNG projects in early 1990s to tap the North Field, which straddles 6,000 square kilometers of Qatari and Iranian water in the Gulf and is believed to be home to nearly 25 trillion cubic metres of non-associated gas.

In statements last year, Attiyah said key projects at the North Field, which was discovered in 1971, had been put on hold pending the completion of assessment of the field’s resources after several years of production.

The country became the largest LNG supplier in the world when it pumped around 40 million tonnes in 2009. Officials said all the output of 77 million tonnes would be exported mostly under long-term supply agreements.

LNG exports have sharply boosted Qatar’s income and allowed it to record one the highest GDP growth rates in the world.  Growth was estimated at around nine per cent in 2009 and is projected at 14 per cent this year.

The country has also become among the 10 richest nations in terms of GDP per capita, which exceeded $70,000 in 2009.