Qatar Prepares to Boost LNG Export Capacity

Japan's Chiyoda Corporation said May 31 it signed an agreement in Doha with Qatar Petroleum (QP) to conduct a detailed study to identify changes required to debottleneck the country's liquefaction trains "in order to process additional quantities of gas that will be produced from the planned North Field gas project." 

QP announced April 3 its intention to develop a new 2bn ft³/d gas project in the southern section of the giant North Field for export.

"Qatar Petroleum is determined to continue its lead position in the gas industry with its expansion plans, both inside and outside the State of Qatar," declared QP CEO Saad Sherida al-Kaabi. He said the agreement with Chiyoda would provide QP with the option of increasing its LNG production "with minimal investment, by leveraging the existing massive world-class infrastructure and valuable synergies available in Ras Laffan Industrial City."

The study is expected to be completed by the end of 2017, which would enable QP to kick off the front-end engineering and design work early 2018, if it concluded that this option will achieve "optimum value for the State of Qatar."

Qatar has been the world's largest LNG exporter for many years. LNG imports sourced in 2016 from Qatar were 79.62mn metric tons, according to the latest annual report of the International Group of LNG Importers (GIIGNL). That was more than the country's 77mn mt/yr nominal export capacity. However most forecasts, prior to QP's early April announcement, had suggested that it would be overtaken by Australia and the US as the world's largest LNG exporter in the early 2020s.

QP's latest announcements suggest it does not intend to be a pushover on the world LNG stage. The company has already set up a joint marketing venture, Ocean LNG, with ExxonMobil that is intended to trade volumes from possible equity positions abroad. Ocean LNG last year signed the first long-term supply agreement into Brazil intended to start in 2020.

ExxonMobil is investing in the Eni-led Mozambique giant offshore gas assets, expected to form the basis of multiple LNG projects in the 2020s; it is possible that QP may yet farm into part of that Exxon stake. 

Mark Smedley