Qatar aims to be top LNG producer for at least two decades

Qatar aims to be the world’s biggest producer of liquefied natural gas for at least the next two decades, capitalising on rising demand as the world transitions from oil and coal to cleaner energy.

Qatar will spend billions of dollars expanding its LNG capacity more than 50 percent to 126 million tons a year. That’s a level other countries will struggle to match, Minister of State for Energy Affairs, President and CEO of Qatar Petroleum, H E Saad Sherida Al Kaabi said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

The country is already the world’s main supplier of the super-chilled fuel.

The nation will be able to produce LNG from the first phase of the expansion so cheaply that it will be viable even if oil prices fall below $20 a barrel, said Al Kaabi. “This is one of the most competitive, if not the most competitive, projects on the planet,” he said. Oil prices collapsed last year, but have soared more than 60 percent since the start of November to around $64 a barrel with the roll-out of coronavirus vaccines.

Qatar Petroleum took a final investment decision on the North Field East Project last week. It’s likely to be the only project in the world to pass this milestone in 2021, after just one was sanctioned to move ahead last year, according to Bloomberg NEF.The lack of new supply from other countries will benefit Qatar, said Al Kaabi. “With less projects coming online, our expansion is very timely,” he said.

Al Kaabi downplayed the idea among some analysts that demand for LNG is, like that for oil, close to peaking. Energy companies looking to produce more renewable energy will still need gas to offset the intermittency of green power, he said. P3