Qatar ///
Qatar will spend billions of dollars expanding its LNG capacity more than 50% to 126 million tons a year. The Persian Gulf state is already the world’s main supplier of the super-chilled fuel, but new projects elsewhere -- especially in Australia and the U.S. -- have eroded its dominance.
The move will help Qatar “avoid negative economic consequences due to oil-price volatility,” Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani told members of the country’s legislative body, the Shura Council, on Tuesday.
The project includes the development of four new LNG mega-trains as well as associated facilities, and the production starting in 2025 will support the continued economic growth in Qatar.
Gas projects planned or under development in the region will require around $211 billion in investment between 2020 and 2024, Arab Petroleum Investments Corp. said Monday in a statement.
The total award is part of four LNG “mega trains,” representing 33 million tons per annum (MTPA) of additional capacity, which will increase Qatar’s total liquefied natural gas (LNG) production capacity from 77 MTPA to 110 MTPA and help to propel the Gulf nation to global LNG production leadership by 2025.
Fugro has completed the first phase of their multidisciplinary offshore site investigation for Qatargas’ North Field Production Sustainability’s Compression Phase.
The Gulf emirate entered into agreements with Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. and Samsung Heavy Industries Co., according to a statement on Monday from state producer Qatar Petroleum.
Despite skepticism over the efficacy of the measures unveiled in mid-April by Saudi Arabia, Russia and their partners, compared to the immense hit to demand, the impact has been substantial. Oil prices have recovered by 60% in the past three weeks, as a pick-up in fuel use is complemented by the supply cuts.
OPEC presented a bleaker assessment of global oil markets for the second quarter as the coronavirus crisis continues to drain demand, days after some of the cartel’s biggest producers pledged to make even deeper production cutbacks.
Hemmed in by weak demand and scarce storage, the world’s biggest exporter of liquefied natural gas may soon face a stark choice: curb output or ignite a battle for market share that has the potential -- just as in the oil market -- to turn gas prices negative.
The project, awarded through engineering firm McDermott International, will see the firm deliver two of its EC750 cranes for installation on wellhead platforms, as well as an EC1000 crane for a riser platform.
OPEC+ will adjust its output target and redistribute production cuts between its members under pressure from Saudi Arabia.
Qatar, the world’s biggest supplier of liquefied natural gas, plans to boost output capacity by almost two thirds after it adds production facilities to exploit recently discovered reserves.
Qatar Petroleum is set to join most of its Persian Gulf counterparts and price its crude before loading instead of afterward from next year, according to people familiar with the plans. That
Shrugging off a global supply glut that’s left liquefied natural gas prices struggling to recover from a three-year low, the world’s biggest producer of the fuel said it’s on track to expand production.
Qatar has invited Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Total SA, ConocoPhillips and other “big players” to submit bids to help expand its part of the world’s largest natural gas field, Energy Minister Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi said.
Kurt Abraham, World Oil
Another mixed outlook awaits the E&P sector
Ministers from OPEC+ are gathering in Abu Dhabi with deeper production cuts off the agenda for now, but with a backdrop of growing concern about the strength of oil demand as the global economy slows.
Seadrill and Gulf Drilling International have entered into a 50:50 joint venture, GulfDrill, which will initially manage and operate five premium jackups in Qatar with Qatar Petroleum commencing throughout 2020.
Australia is on track to surpass Qatar as the world’s largest LNG exporter, according to Australia’s Department of Industry, Innovation, and Science (DIIS). Australia already surpasses Qatar in LNG export capacity and exported more LNG than Qatar in November 2018 and April 2019.