Qatar Petroleum yesterday announced plans to lift 12-year long moratorium on the development of North Field, the world's biggest natural gas field; and develop a new gas project in its southern sector. The new project will increase production of the North Field by about 10 percent, adding about 400,000 barrels per day of oil equivalent to Qatar’s production.
"Qatar Petroleum’s technical studies and assessment of the North Field have confirmed the potential for developing a new gas project that can be targeted for export with a capacity of about 2 billion cubic feet per day. It is worth noting that a project of this size will increase the current production of the North Field by about 10 percent, which will add about 400,000 BBL/D (barrels per day)of oil equivalent to the State of Qatar’s production,” Saad Sherida Al Kaabi, President & CEO of Qatar Petroleum, said in a press conference held at the company’s headquarters at West Bay.
The increase in production will ensure Qatar, which exports up to 77 million tonnes of gas each year, remains as the largest exporter of LNG in the world for in the coming years.
“Since 2005, Qatar Petroleum has been conducting extensive studies and exerting exceptional efforts to assess the North Field, including drilling a number of appraisal wells to better estimate the Field’s production potential, which enabled us to reach this satisfactory result today,” he added.
The announcement marks an end to 12-year long moratorium by the country on the development of the North Field. “We have completed most of our projects and now is a good time to lift the moratorium,” said the President. The project will start production within five to seven years where the increase in production will be mainly exported.
“This new project will further strengthen Qatar's leading position as a major player in the global gas industry and underline the pivotal role of the country's oil and gas industry as the mainstay of the national economy. This, in turn, will contribute to and stimulate the economy in both the public and private sectors as part of the comprehensive development of the country and the achievement of the objectives of Qatar National Vision 2030,” said Al Kaabi.
It has not yet been decided whether the natural gas will be converted to liquefied natural gas (LNG) or gas to liquids (GTL) or will be kept in its original state. The exploratory studies were carried out solely by QP, Al Kaabi said.
