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2018-06-29 10:40:00

QATAR - U.S. INVESTMENT: $20 BLN

QATAR - U.S. INVESTMENT: $20 BLN

BLOOMBERG - QATAR Petroleum, the world's biggest seller of liquefied natural gas, is looking to get even larger, investing US$20 billion in America's oil and gas fields, at a time when rival U.S. exporters are expanding.

The investments will be made over five years, Chief Executive Officer Saad Sherida al-Kaabi said. Some of that will likely go toward lining up gas supplies for the Golden Pass LNG export project in Texas, being developed with Exxon Mobil Corp.

Al-Kaabi said Qatar will probably be announcing a deal in the U.S. "before the end of the year," but he declined to say whether it would involve oil or gas. Qatar is also looking to invest an additional US$5 billion in so-called downstream assets, such as chemicals projects, he said.

"We have a huge growth plan," al-Kaabi said. "We're talking to many people and many companies in the U.S." Within 8 years, he added, the company plans to go "from 4.8 million barrels of oil equivalent a day to 6.5 million."

The state-owned company is looking at both shale and conventional resources in the U.S., according to al-Kaabi. Qatar Petroleum and its partners in the Golden Pass project are now weighing commercial bids from contractors, and expect to decide whether to move forward with the project by the first quarter of 2019, he said.

'Final Stages'

"We're in the final stages to really make a decision very soon," he said. "We are very eager to do the project. We think this is a very important project for us, and we believe we're aligned with Exxon Mobil on that."

The final go-ahead will come only after the company secures gas to feed the project. "You can buy gas off the market, but we want to be naturally hedged."

While Qatar is currently the top LNG exporters, according to the International Gas Union, the U.S. is on the rise, and analysts have speculated it could grab the top spot in the next two years, as new American projects get the green light.

Two U.S. export terminals are in service — one in Louisiana and one in Maryland — and four more are expected to come online by 2020. A long list of others are vying for a spot in the global market. Golden Pass is one of four fully permitted U.S. ventures that are still awaiting a final investment decision from developers.

Important Partnership

Of Qatar Petroleum's 14 LNG-producing units — called "trains" — all but one were developed alongside U.S. companies, al-Kaabi said. He said he hopes to show the U.S. government the importance of seeing Qatar as a business partner, especially after the Trump administration sided with Saudi Arabia and others at the start of an ongoing blockade against the Arab country.

"We felt we deserved more support from the U.S. than we got," al-Kaabi said. "I don't think the U.S. administration or the U.S. public understands how important Qatar is and how good Qatar has been to our partners."

Qatar's relationship with the administration seems to be improving, he said, adding he has several meetings lined up with U.S. officials — including a one-on-one with Energy Secretary Rick Perry — while he's in Washington for the World Gas Conference.

"That relationship in the long term is very important to us," al-Kaabi said. "We have an economic tie that's very strong."

 

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Earlier: 

 QATAR LNG - 2024: 100 MLN MT
2018, June, 13, 12:50:00

QATAR LNG - 2024: 100 MLN MT

PLATTS - "There is no LNG supply glut," Sada said. "There may be a surplus of only 10 million mt/year of LNG in the early 2020s [but] in a 350 million mt/year LNG market, this means that the market is practically in balance," he said.

 QATAR IS OK
2018, June, 6, 11:59:00

QATAR IS OK

BLOOMBERG - By most metrics, the embargo that closed Qatar off from major air, sea, and land links has failed. The country’s imports and exports are up, according to the International Monetary Fund. Qatar, the world’s richest country per capita thanks to massive reserves of natural gas, is on track to post a budget surplus in 2018. Its economy is growing faster than most of its peers.

 QATAR'S GDP GROWTH 2.6%
2018, June, 4, 13:15:00

QATAR'S GDP GROWTH 2.6%

IMF - The near-term growth outlook is broadly positive. Overall, GDP growth of 2.6 percent is projected for 2018. Inflation is expected to peak at 3.9 percent in 2018—as the impact of the value-added tax being introduced during the second half of 2018 would mostly be felt in that year—before easing to 2.2 percent in the medium term. The availability of significant external and fiscal buffers and the strong financial sector should enable the country to withstand downside risks, including lower-than-envisaged oil prices, tighter global conditions and an escalation of the diplomatic rift.

 IMF: QATAR IS BETTER
2018, March, 7, 14:15:00

IMF: QATAR IS BETTER

IMF - The Qatari economy remains competitive, though there are certain areas that deserve attention. Qatar has fallen to 25th place (out of 137) in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Index (2017–18), down from 18 th in 2016–17. Nonetheless, it still ranks ahead of most emerging markets, a reflection of a stronger infrastructure base.

 SAUDI - QATAR COMPETITION
2018, January, 31, 10:45:00

SAUDI - QATAR COMPETITION

BLOOMBERG - Oil exports from Qatar, one of OPEC’s smaller crude producers, to Japan last year slumped by almost a quarter to its lowest level since 1990, while shipments from giant supplier Saudi Arabia grew 8.1 percent, boosting its market share in the Asian nation to a record. Over in South Korea, imports from Qatar sank 26 percent to the least in seven years.

 QATARGAS & RASGAS MERGER
2018, January, 4, 12:25:00

QATARGAS & RASGAS MERGER

TOGY - The merger of the world’s largest LNG producers, Qatargas and RasGas, is complete, and the new entity, called Qatargas, has started operations, parent company Qatar Petroleum (QP) announced

 U.S. GLOBAL LEADERSHIP
2017, July, 19, 14:55:00

U.S. GLOBAL LEADERSHIP

While US demand for gas is rising because of higher industrial consumption, more than half of the production increase will be used for LNG for export. By 2022, IEA estimates that the US will be on course to challenge Australia and Qatar for global leadership among LNG exporters.

Tags: QATAR, USA, OIL, GAS, INVESTMENT