The Emir H H Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy and Industry H E Abdullah bin Hamad Al Attiyah at the gas security summit in Sofia yesterday.

DOHA/Sofia: Qatar yesterday assured the world of consistent gas supply and reiterated that its plans to produce 77 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in two years were on track.

“The stability and security of energy supplies globally are our prime concern and that’s one of the reasons why we are focusing on further developing our vibrant natural gas industry,” The Emir HH Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani told a key Energy Summit in Bulgaria yesterday.

The Summit was devoted to discussions on natural gas consumption, demand and supply in Europe and the issue of supply security and partnerships to ensure stability, Qatar News Agency reported.

Qatar is currently the largest producer of LNG in the world and boasts 54 ultra-modern LNG carriers, each with a capacity of 266,000 cubic metres, and is home to the largest LNG train in the world with a capacity to produce 7.8 million tonnes of LNG a year, the Emir said.

“Once we reach the production level of 77mtpa in two years, our share in the global LNG production will be one-third… We are keen to bring gas to you in Europe and to take it to Asia and America.”

Natural gas is a green fuel. It is environment-friendly, so its use is rapidly growing worldwide, especially to fire power plants. Gas is already being used in Qatar to produce power and desalinated water.

The Emir talked of the thriving upstream, downstream and midstream energy industries of Qatar as well, and said the petrochemical industries here were one of the most advanced in the world.

As for midstream projects, he introduced the joint piped gas venture, Dolphin, and said some two million cubic feet of processed Qatari gas was channeled to the UAE and Oman daily from its massive reserves in the North Field.

But the Emir was quick to drive home the political message that it was crucial to resolve the ongoing conflicts in the Middle East due to the fact that the region was indispensably linked to the world energy supply and its security and stability. “Peace is so crucial to energy supply, security and stability,” he stressed.

He also talked of the gas-to-liquids (GTL) projects and said Qatar was home to two of the world’s biggest GTL ventures.

Referring to the ongoing global recession, he said no country in the world, whether rich or poor, was left unscathed and said oil prices remained largely affected by it. The Emir said he believed that the current price band of $40 to $45 per barrel of oil could help consuming countries, especially the developing world, to ride over the global economic crisis.

The producing nations also need a fair price band since low prices do not help anyone in the long term. Many regional and international energy companies had either put off or shelved their projects.

This means that once the world recovers from the financial crisis, there would be a shortage of energy supply, warned the Emir.

A number of high-profile Qatari ministers are accompanying the Emir on his current tour of Europe and they were present at the Energy Summit yesterday.

THE PENINSULA