Saad Sherida Al Kaabi, President & CEO of Qatar Petroleum addressing the media yesterday Pic: Kammutty VP/The Peninsula
Qatar aims to remain as one the lowest gas producer in that will help it continue to be a dominating force in the global Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) market.
“I am very confident about the future of LNG and we will be going forward making sure that we are one of the lowest cost producers for a very long time and we will remain as a dominating force in LNG in the world,” said Saad Sherida Al Kaabi, President & CEO of Qatar Petroleum said in a press conference held at the company’s headquarters where he announced plans to develop a new gas project in the North Field.
Qatar is the world's largest exporter of LNG with a yearly production of 77 million tonnes.
Replying to a question on formation of alliance by gas buyers, he said Qatar is well placed to face this situation.
“For us what we can control is showing that we are low cost producer and we compete in the market… buyers trying to organise is their business. We will deal with any kind of situation that we are confronted with,” he added.
Recently, there were reports of the world's biggest LNG buyers in Asia were clubbing together to secure more flexible supply contracts. Korea Gas Corp said on Thursday it had signed a memorandum of understanding in mid-March with Japan's JERA and China National Offshore Oil Corp to exchange information and ‘cooperate in the joint procurement of LNG’.
Talking about the timing of plans to develop a new project when oil prices are volatile, Kaabi said low prices have not affected Qatar. “By the time this project comes online in five years or so it should be a good market for gas. We don’t see that the pricing pressure has affected us as much as some,” he said.
He added that Qatar Petroleum spent hundreds of billions of dollars on developing the North Field and now was a ‘good time’ to allow for new ventures there. The seismic survey carried out in the North Field is the largest survey in the world and was held several years ago. In addition, a number of exploration wells were drilled and based on that the decision was made to develop the new gas project, he added.
Commenting on the Qatargas and RasGas merger, Al Kaabi said the merge will be complete by the end of the year. Al Kaabi confirmed that he will visit Cyprus on Wednesday to sign contracts to search around the island for oil and gas in collaboration with ExxonMobil.
In February, he had said Qatar would focus on seeking international opportunities by exploring for oil and gas in Cyprus and Morocco.
