Qatar Petroleum (QP) recently announced that it would invest $20bn (over QR72bn) in the US energy sector over the next five years, showing that the company is emerging as a global player in energy sector.
H E Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs, President & CEO of Qatar Petroleum, said recently that 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.
QP is a majority owner of the Golden Pass LNG terminal in Texas, with ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips holding smaller stakes.
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.
Qatar currently produces about 77mtpa of LNG, which is working to expand its output by over 40 percent to 110mtpa by 2024.
QP has also announced to sign 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 conducted an international technical study to assess the various sedimentary basins at a global level, in cooperation with French Petroleum Institute (IFP). The study will be used to direct QP future plans towards the field of global exploration and production.
In terms of acquisition and global exploration agreements, a consortium including QP , Shell and China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) won the bid held by the Brazilian government in October 2017, for the Alto de Cabo Frio-Oeste block in the prolific Santos hydrocarbon basin offshore Brazil.
QP has promoted it presence in Brazil by winning along with ExxonMobil (QP 36 percent, ExxonMobil 64 percent) a bid for exploration rights for Santos basin. In addition, in its alliance with ExxonMobil and Brazilian Petrobras (QP 30 percent, ExxonMobil 40 percent, Petrobas 30 percent), QP won exploration rights for two blocks in the Campos Basin in a bid organized by the Brazilian government in March 2018.
In Oman, QP agreed with Eni of Italy to acquire a 30 percent participating in the Contractor’s interest under the exploration and production sharing located in the Arabian Sea off the coast of Oman.
