Qatar - LNG World News

Qatar?s gas production may scale up to 120mn tonnes per year (tpy) in 2012 in view of the rising domestic and international demand for natural gas, a QNB Capital study shows.

The country?s gas production stood at 86mn tpy in 2010, QNB Capital said in its ?Qatar Economic Insight?. The rising gas production will be a key driver of the real GDP growth in 2011-12.

However, the scale of investment in the development of the gas sector has slowed and LNG and GTL should both achieve their currently planned peak production levels in 2012.

There is a moratorium on new gas for LNG exports while a study is carried out to reassess the reserves of the North Field on the basis of Qatar fulfilling its current LNG commitments.

Further growth in gas production will only be for domestic use, pending the study?s results.

Qatar Petroleum (QP) has a number of ventures, including Qatargas and RasGas, which between them operate 14 LNG export trains.

When Qatargas? seventh train was commissioned in February 2011, Qatar?s LNG production capacity reached 77.1mn tpy.

This was more than double the capacity of 31mn tpy in 2008. Five new LNG trains have been commissioned since 2008.

Many foreign companies are involved as joint-venture partners in various LNG projects. For example, ExxonMobil is a prominent stakeholder in Qatargas and RasGas.

LNG exports are sold through sales and purchase agreements (SPAs) that have been contracted with companies in a number of countries.

The purchasing companies often take a small equity stake in the trains providing their LNG. Korea Gas Corporation, the state natural gas company of South Korea, has a 5% stake in RasGas I.

The LNG market was initially characterised by long-term contracts, which locked the buyer and seller in at an agreed price.

This was to cover the high investment costs required to construct LNG production, transport and regassification facilities.

In recent years, more LNG infrastructure has been constructed around the world.

This has included storage facilities, such as the Fluxys terminal in Zeebruge, Belgium, which can store about 0.14mn tonnes of LNG (about three shiploads), and a terminal is under construction in Singapore with 0.25mn tonnes of storage capacity.

The expansion of LNG infrastructure has increased the scope for flexibility in gas contracts and for contracts to shift from long-term to medium-term, QNB Capital said.

The vast majority of Qatar?s LNG is still sold through SPAs, rather than on-the-spot market.

However, the SPAs now include clauses with more price flexibility and that allow for cargoes to be diverted if the buyer is oversupplied.

This flexibility has helped Qatar to explore new markets and investment opportunities in regassification terminals, which can receive Qatar?s exports. Qatar has also entered new markets, signing a long-term agreement with Argentina, and is sending LNG cargoes to Brazil.

Qatar is looking at other potential export markets in South America and the Caribbean. According to Cedigaz data, Qatar exported 55.7mn tonnes of LNG in 2010.

The top four LNG destinations in 2010 were: the UK (10.2mn tonnes), India (7.7mn tonnes), South Korea (7.5mn tonnes) and Japan (7.5mn tonnes).

(gulf-times)

Source: gulf-times, September 26, 2011; Image: qatargas

Source: http://www.lngworldnews.com/qatar-gas-output-may-reach-120-million-tonnes-in-2012/

csm the walking dead season 2 spurs joe cole joe cole inkling lille