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 on Wednesday.

Qatargas will now be in charge of Qatar's entire LNG output.

"Our aim was to integrate the two companies' resources and capabilities to create a truly unique global energy operator in terms of size, service and reliability," QP CEO Saad Al Kaabi said in a statement. "It is important to highlight that this integration will ultimately save us around QAR 2 billion [USD 548 million] in operating cost annually."

The merger, which closed on January 1, was first announced in December 2016.

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Earlier:

2017, September, 27, 13:30:00 QATAR - BANGLADESH LNG RasGas Company Limited sealed a landmark 15-yr LNG Sales and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla). The agreement was signed in Doha by Mr. Hamad Mubarak Al-Muhannadi, CEO of RasGas, and Mr. Abdul Mansur Md Faizullah, Petrobangla Chairman.

2017, September, 22, 08:35:00 QATAR - TURKEY LNG 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

2017, July, 5, 12:15:00 QATAR SHOW STRENGTH 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.

2017, June, 24, 09:45:00 RUSSIA - QATAR COMPETITION 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.

2017, June, 7, 18:00:00 QATAR WILLING TO SPEAK "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".

2017, May, 31, 17:35:00 QATAR - JAPAN LNG TALKS 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.

2017, April, 12, 18:40:00 QATAR'S GDP UP TO 2.7% 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.