Qatar aims to increase LNG trading volumes to between 30 million and 40 million tonnes by 2030, up from around 10 million tonnes currently.
Speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum, Minister Saad Al-Kaabi said the mandate was that up to 50% must be non-Qatari volumes, which is the case today, before announcing the ambitious target.
“We’re going to be producing 160 million tonnes of LNG as projects that we’re participating in, if you include the US. We are at 77 million tonnes today and 70 ships – and adding 128. So all that will be under the control of our trading organisation, where they can trade some of that volume. Not all of it will be locked up in long-term deals, but we will have plenty to deal with.”
The Qatar Economic Forum has more than 1,500 global leaders in attendance and over 120 speakers.
Under the theme, ‘The Road to 2030: Transforming the Global Economy’, the three-day forum is discussing the global economy through the lens of regional transformation with mainstage plenary discussions, breakout sessions, meetings, provisional signings and firm agreements, and cultural events.
In a session on global energy supplies and security, Minister Al-Kaabi reflected on the US President’s recent Gulf visit and said it is working closely with US companies across several key projects in Qatar (Northfield East and South) and two projects in the US, including the single largest LNG export facility, and rejected the notion of any ‘pressurising’ in the current tariffs climate. Separately, HH Sheikh Bandar bin Mohammed bin Saoud Al-Thani, Governor, Qatar Central Bank, said there was “no direct” impact from US tariffs but indirectly, a decline in energy prices could impact fiscal budgets.
“We are happy to do deals with US companies as they provide a win-win … for us,” said Al-Kaabi. “And in the energy sector, they are 25- [or] 30-year-deals, so they have to survive different administrations.”
The minister said the oil companies continue to scrutinise revenue and capital expenditure, which will have a knock-on effect on LNG development. Last November, QatarEnergy inaugurated four new vessels, as part of the 128-vessel order.
“If crude comes down it affects the whole thing,” he said. “In general, you need oil in the range of $70 to $80 to sustain production, and increase. If oil declines below $60 there will definitely be a decline in investment.”
Ryan Lance, Chairman and CEO of ConocoPhillips said, “I think it’s a broader strategy the President is trying to articulate, about taking the natural resources that are endowed to the US [to] really continue that growth and development.”
“It has multiple dimensions – it’s reforms, it’s more infrastructure and gas pipelines, and eliminating the LNG pause, to be able to import and export energy that the whole world needs.”
He said LNG is currently growing about 1% to 2% compound annually, from about 400 million tonnes today, to around 700 million tonnes in the next decade. “It’s going to take a lot of growth – from the US and Qatar,” he said.
