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Asif Iqbal
Doha
The successful integration of the country's two LNG firms, Qatargas and Rasgas into a single entity will result in a potential annual operating cost saving of QR2 billion, a top Qatar Petroleum (QP) official has said.
"Following the announcement made by us in December 2016, the two LNG companies have merged into a single LNG operating company from January 1, this year, and all the ventures that were operated by Qatargas and RasGas will now be operated by the new Qatargas," QP President and CEO Saad Sherida al Kaabi said at a press conference on Wednesday.
Kaabi said Sheikh Khaild bin Khalifa al Thani will be the CEO of the new company, which will present a more unified approach to the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market, reaffirming the country's pre-eminent position in the global LNG business.
He said the integration aims to create a unique global energy operator in terms of size, service and reliability and also create higher value for stakeholders by enhancing the competitive position of the Qatari gas industry.
The new entity will have a production capacity of 77 million tonnes of LNG per annum from its combined 14 LNG trains.
"Qatargas will be the single entity exporting Qatari LNG to the world, under one shared vision, one management system, and one work culture," Kaabi said.
On being asked if the merger would affect the joint venture partners, Kaabi said all the trains that have several joint venture partners will remain the same.
There are seven operating companies that have joint ventures with oil majors - principally ExxonMobil, while, Total, Shell, ConocoPhillips, and five Asian firms hold minority stakes in the 14 LNG trains.
Giving an update on the country's plans to raise LNG capacity by 30 percent, Kaabi said all the projects related to raising the output are on schedule with engineering works for all projects under way. He, however, did not disclose who the partner will be for these projects,
Asked if he was worried about the gloomy situation in the gas industry, Kaabi said,"There is some glut in the industry but the situation is definitely not gloomy. I would say the situation is rather rosy."
He said some countries are planning to have electric cars but to run these cars you need electricity and gas will be a major source to produce electricity.
Kaabi said all the projects that are planned to increase the country's LNG output, would start production in the next five or six years and the demand for LNG will continue in the future as well.
