File photo of Minister of State for Energy Affairs H E Saad Sherida Al Kaabi, addressing the media at a briefing held at the Qatar Petroleum headquarters in Doha. Pic: Salim Matramkot/The Peninsula
Doha: H E Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs, President & CEO of Qatar Petroleum (QP), announced yesterday the QP will invest $20bn (over QR72bn) in the US energy sector over the next five years.
The investments will be made on both the conventional and non-conventional energy sectors, which also include investment in the huge liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Texas.
The Minister was speaking at a Plenary Session on ‘New Age Energy Policy: A Balancing Act’ at the high-profile Doha Forum, which concluded yesterday. Other participants at the discussion were Yury Sentyurin, Secretary-General of the Doha-based Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) and Claudio Descalzi, CEO of ENI, the Italian energy giant.
“We have very large investments in the US, which include the Golden Pass LNG terminal that we are contemplating and moving forward with our partners.
“We are assessing that and in the final stages of taking an investment decision within weeks to months,” Minister Al Kaabi said.
Al Kaabi added: “If that goes ahead we will have an increase of 16 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of export capacity which will be part of our 110 mtpa target that we are expected to reach in five years or so.”
With this facility QP in the US will have LNG export capacity and an upstream position in oil & gas, both conventional and non-conventional.
“We think that the US has huge potential to grow production and move forward for a very long time, and that’s why we are going to the market with this huge investment of $20bn in different projects, including the Golden Pass LNG export projects that we are working on now,” said Minister.
QP is a majority owner of the Golden Pass LNG terminal in Texas, with ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips holding smaller stakes.
He said that QP is working on expansion plan outside Qatar as part of its long term strategy. The expansion projects include investments in the US, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and many other countries.
Once these projects become operational over the next few years, QP, which a national oil company, will become a major International player in the oil & gas industry.
Asked why QP is expanding outside Qatar as the country is already sitting on ‘infinite reserves’ of its own, he said that QP has significantly expanded its operations within the country over the years and now focusing to grow externally in line with the country’s long term strategy for sustainable revenue source for generations.
“When we started gas production in 1991 we produced only 0.8 billion cubic feet (bcf). Today we are at 23bcf, and soon we will reach at 30bcf. This is an exponential growth,” he explained.
Commenting on the selection of partners for the for new LNG trains needed for North Field expansion project, he said it will announce by the middle of 2019, but QP is open to go alone if its expectations are not fulfilled by potential partners.
Qatar currently produces about 77mtpa of LNG, which is working to expand its output by over 40 percent to 110mtpa by 2024.
Separately, QP earlier yesterday announced to have signed an agreement with Italian oil major Eni on three oil fields in Mexico, taking a 35 percent stake in deposits that will begin production in mid-2019 and ramp up to about 90,000 barrels per day by 2021.
QP currently produces 4.8 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) and aims to boost its output to 6.5 million boed in the next 8 years by expanding its upstream business abroad.
