Qatar’s recent decision to increase its LNG production level from 77 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 110 MTPA will improve the country’s position as one of the main exporters of LNG to the global markets and reinforce its position as the world’s largest reliable LNG supplier.
Secretary-General of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) Dr. Yury Sentyurin, speaking to QNA recently stated that Doha’s announcement can contribute to increasing demand for LNG, mostly from Asia and especially China.
Qatar Petroleum has taken several measures to expand its operations, aiming to become a major international player in the oil and gas industry. One of the major decisions was to increasing its LNG production capacity.
QP had announced in September last year that it would increase the capacity of Qatar’s LNG expansion project, which was announced in 2017, by adding a fourth liquefaction train. After the completion of project, Qatar’s LNG production capacity would reach 110 MTPA, representing an increase of around 43 percent from its current production capacity of 77 MTPA.
In February this year, QP and ExxonMobil announced that they had taken the final investment decision for developing the Golden Pass LNG export project. The project, located in Sabine Pass, Texas, is owned by Golden Pass Products — a joint venture between affiliates of Qatar Petroleum and ExxonMobil.
The continued preference towards cleaner energy will drive interest in natural gas and LNG. In the longer term, more nations will press for fuel oil generation conversion to natural gas, which will drive LNG development infrastructure
Dr. Sentyurin pointed out that the global energy market is becoming more and more dynamic, with the interplay of economics and geopolitics getting more complex. This increased degree of complexity and dynamics brings a higher degree of unpredictability, which in turn raises the volatility of various commodities, including the oil price.
The GECF member countries continue to be a very important source of natural gas supply needed, to not only satisfy their contractual obligations, but also to meet their domestic gas requirements.
Natural gas consumption grew by 3-4% over the past two years, and that this upward trend would continue in the near future, which would be driven mainly by higher consumption in Asia, especially in China, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and in the United States, as well as in Europe and the Middle East. With proactive taken by the authorities in the past years, Qatar will maintain its role of world’s trusted LNG supplier.
