Skip to main content

Qatar plans new gas output boost amid global price collapse

Qatar will further raise gas production despite a steep drop in global gas prices, pushing ahead with plans to extract more of the resource amidst fierce competition with rivals such as the United States.

QatarEnergy chief Saad al-Kaabi announced on Sunday a new expansion of its liquefied natural gas production that will add a further 16 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to existing expansion plans, bringing total capacity to 142 mtpa.

The Qatari announcement comes as US gas prices trade near an all-time low if adjusted to inflation after a decade of meteoric rises in output which made the US one of the top oil and gas exporters.

Prices of gas in Europe also fell steeply despite a drop in Russian supplies after the US and Qatar helped replace lost volumes.

Kaabi said gas markets in Asia would continue to grow and Europe would still need more gas for the foreseeable future.

“We still think there’s a big future for gas for at least 50 years forward and whenever we can technically do more, we’ll do more,” he said at a press conference to announce the expansion in Doha.

“We see that Europe is going to need gas for a very, very long time. But the growth in Asia is definitely going to be bigger than the growth in Europe, basically driven by population growth.”

With this added boost, the overall expansion of the North Field from 77 mtpa currently to 142 mtpa by 2030 represents an increase of 85 per cent in production.

Qatar is among the world’s top exporters of LNG, competition for which had ramped up since the beginning of the war in Ukraine in February 2022.

Despite the price drop all major gas producers including the US, Australia and Russia want to further increase output betting on further demand growth and worries that their gas might not be needed decades from now if energy transition makes green energy cheaper.

This latest expansion may not be the last for the Gulf energy giant as Kaabi said appraisal of Qatari gas reservoirs would continue and production would be further expanded if there is a market need.

Two more trains

State-owned QatarEnergy has already signed a string of supply deals with European and Asian partners in its massive North Field expansion project, which was expected — prior to Sunday’s announcement — to begin producing 126 million mtpa of LNG per annum by 2027, from the current 77 mtpa.

Exploration activities in the west of North Field prompted the company’s decision to expand further.

Kaabi did not give a cost for the project but said it would be in the billions of dollars.

“It is difficult to give you a number now for the cost of the expansion, but it is certainly in billions,” he said.

“We will start preliminary engineering studies for the project and then at the right time we will announce how much the cost when the project is settled.”

In December, Kaabi told Reuters that QatarEnergy had been drilling wells to assess expansion opportunities beyond the North Field East and North Field South phases.

This latest expansion will require the construction of two LNG trains, in addition to six already underway for the earlier expansions.

On partnerships for the new trains, Kaabi said QatarEnergy will go ahead and begin the engineering phase of this project on its own without seeking partners and then take a decision on partnerships later.

The North Field is part of the world’s largest gas field which Qatar shares with Iran, which calls its share South Pars.



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/GBwPmdN

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Ministers rubbish notion that proposed retirement age extension to favour ‘one particular institution’

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday rubbished the notion that a proposed extension in the retirement age was to favour “one particular institution”, adding that the move would be implemented across the board if approved. The rebuttal comes in the wake of media reports claiming that the government was mulling changes to the Constitution to fix the tenure of the chief justice . Currently, judges of the Supreme Court, including the chief justice, retire after attaining the age of superannuation, i.e. 65 years, as stipulated in Article 179 of the Constitution. While giving his opinion recently on the reports of the constitutional amendment, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar had said he “will not vehemently turn down the proposals related to the tenure of the chief justice”. Addressing the issue during a press conference in Islamabad today along since Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and the law minister, Attaullah said the extension in the retirement age was “a proposal to a...

The Republican primary race for president in 2024

The Republican primary race for president in 2024 is already shaping up to be a competitive one. There are a number of high-profile candidates who have already announced their intention to run, and more are expected to join the field in the coming months. The frontrunner for the nomination is former President Donald Trump. Trump has been teasing a 2024 run for months, and he has a large and loyal following among Republican voters. However, he is also a polarizing figure, and his candidacy could alienate some moderate Republicans. Another potential contender for the nomination is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. DeSantis has been praised by many conservatives for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and his opposition to vaccine mandates. He is also seen as a rising star in the Republican Party. Other potential candidates include former Vice President Mike Pence, former Ambassador Nikki Haley, and Senator Tim Scott. Pence is a more traditional Republican who could appeal to moderate vote...

Islamabad court issues non-bailable warrants for KP CM Gandapur in 2016 weapons and liquor case

An Islamabad district and sessions court on Wednesday issued a non-bailable arrest warrant for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur in connection with a 2016 case , in which he was accused of carrying alcohol and unlicensed weapons. On July 29, Civil Judge Shaista Khan Kundi summoned Gandapur for recording his testimony in the case. Judge Shaista had directed Gandapur to ensure his presence on September 4 (today) for recording his statement under section 342 of the criminal procedure code (CrPC), observing that he has already skipped five hearings in the case. In the hearing today, the judge rejected Gandapur’s request for exemption from physical appearance in court on medical grounds. The court ordered Station House Officer (SHO) Bhara Kahu to arrest and produce Gandapur in court tomorrow. Gandpaur’s lawyers Raja Zahoorul Hassan and Fatehullah Burki appeared in court, engaging back and forth on Gandapur’s absence from court. “Where is the accused? The case was ca...