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Reuters
DAVOS
The US and European oil majors are piling in with offers to help Qatar develop new gas projects, Minister of Energy and Industry HE Mohammed Saleh al Sada has said.
Doha had seen unprecedented interest from majors as Qatar seeks to expand its gas capacity to 100 million tonnes a year from the current 77 million to cement its position as the world's largest exporter, he said.
"Both US and EU majors have shown great interest. We did expect this, but they surprised us on the upside by the degree of keenness," said Sada .
The Saudi-led bloc imposed an unjust siege on Qatar in June last year.
Reuters reported last year that Qatar's traditional partners ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch/Shell and Total, which helped turn the country into a gas superpower, had all shown interest in new projects.
"We have newcomers too," Sada said.
On possible restart of dialogue with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the minister said,"We are happy to sit down with everyone, but with one message in mind — preserving our sovereignty is a paramount condition."
"LNG is not a regional commodity. We can reach all corners in the world unlike via pipelines which are restricted from point A to B and are crossing geopolitically challenging areas," Sada said.
Qatar has said the blockade has opened new opportunities by spurring domestic industries such as construction, while competition among importers into the country is also rising. GDP is expected to rise 3.7-4 percent this year, Sada said.
"We turned challenges into an opportunity. Internally, we rationalised for better efficiency," he said, citing the merger of Qatar's two top gas companies QatarGas and RasGas as an example.
The merger will allow Qatar to further cut costs and become more competitive, said Sada.
Externally, Qatar is diversifying investments which range from stakes in companies such as Volkswagen and Glencore to ownership of luxury hotels and UK shops.
"The diversification of the portfolio will continue. We are open minded about investing in tight or shale oil ... US offers very good opportunities and we studied a number of those projects," he said.
Qatar, Sada added, was expanding investment into LNG exports out of the United States where the country has a venture with Exxon for the Sabine Pass terminal, which was initially designed to import gas into the United States but is now being converted into an export terminal as US gas output soars.
"Maybe for the next 4-5 years we may have a surplus, but it will be less than previously perceived. But beyond 2024-2025 the market will be tight again. That is why Qatar chose to start expanding now," Sada said.
