Qatargas has agreed to sell 1.5 million tpy of LNG to Turkey’s BOTAŞ Petroleum Pipeline Corporation (BOTAŞ) over a period of three years

Qatar mounted what appeared to be a show of strength on Tuesday, when the state-owned Qatar Petroleum announced plans to raise liquefied natural gas capacity by 30 percent. Its immediate effect will be to worsen a glut on the LNG market where Australia, the United States and Russia vie.

Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt on Monday cut ties with Qatar, accusing the country of supporting extremism. Qatar denies the allegations.

Qatar and Russia have long been rivals in global gas markets. Qatar's supplies came under the spotlight in the past month after Saudi Arabia cut economic and diplomatic ties, in a move ratcheting up a wider violent and diplomatic conflict in the Middle East.

"We are willing to sit and talk," Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani told CNN late on Tuesday. He said his country was "protecting the world from potential terrorists".

Qatar faces rising competition from a tide of new LNG from sources including Australia, which is expected to surpass it as the world's top exporter by 2019.

Lower hydrocarbon prices have adversely impacted macroeconomic performance. Growth has slowed despite still resilient non-hydrocarbon activity. Real GDP growth of 2.7 percent is estimated for 2016. Inflation remained low despite subsidy cuts, averaging about 2.7 percent in 2016.

Abullah bin Mohammed Al Thani, the fund’s chief executive, said it would invest a further $2bn on top of $500m of existing investments in the country. Some of the investments would be made jointly with the $10bn sovereign Russian Direct Investment Fund, its partner in a deal last summer for St. Petersburg’s airport, he added.

Pakistan LNG Limited will open financial bids for the supply of 240 shipments of LNG on January 19, while contracts to successful bidders will be awarded on Jan 31.

Rosneft Board of Directors has approved a strategic cooperation agreement with Qatar Investment Authority and Glencore, providing for further cooperation in upstream projects, logistics and global trading.