Qatar set to ramp up LNG production
Posted:01 December 2008
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RasGas, the Qatari LNG major has announced it will increase its production capacity of LNG by 77million tonnes per annum by 2012 at a gas conference in Italy.
Making the announcement, Khalid Al Kuwari, Marketing Executive at RasGas, said the increase would mean the Gulf state would account for 30% of global LNG supply by 2012. Qatar is already the leading supplier of LNG across the globe.
He added that RasGas was on track to boost production capacity to 37 million tonnes next year. They currently produce 21 million tonnes.
RasGas and QatarGas are responsible for all the LNG production in Qatar and are both majority owned by the state oil company Qatar Petroleum. Last year, the state's income from LNG exports was reported to have surpassed $15 billion, up from around $13.5 billion in 2006.
This announcement comes at a time when Qatar is under pressure to increase its cash balance, although the financial crisis has not hit the country as hard as the UAE. Its vast gas reserves will enable it to weather the financial crisis better than most of its neighbours, namely Oman and the UAE who are finding themselves in somewhat of a gas squeeze in meeting their domestic energy demand.
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