Qatar doesn't have gas spare to ease supply crunch: press
Qatar does not have enough supplies to address the ongoing natural gas crisis, the country’s energy minister told the Reuters news service October 11.
"We are maxed out as far as we have given all our customers their due quantities," energy minister Saad al-Kaabi said.
|
Advertisement: The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (NGC) NGC’s HSSE strategy is reflective and supportive of the organisational vision to become a leader in the global energy business. |
Analysis from energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie finds that many factors will influence how the European market will balance this winter, including how much LNG, piped imports and domestic storage will be available to Europe, how demand responds to these record prices and how much capacity – and actual supply - will be available from Russia.
Qatar is the largest global supplier of LNG, with a current capacity of around 77mn metric tons/year. It is working to raise this to 110mn mt/yr by the late 2020s through an expansion at the North Field. A final investment decision on the $29bn project was taken in February.
Natural gas prices in general are at multi-year highs as economies of scale scramble to shore up supplies ahead of the winter heating season in the Northern Hemisphere. Kaabi said a pledge from Russia to send more gas to Europe could create headwinds for gas prices, though there could be emerging global issues.
“I am unhappy about gas prices being high,” but the situation could mean that even the US market could “feel the pressure soon,” he said.
Elsewhere, Qatari news outlet The Peninsula reported on October 11 that state-run Qatar Petroleum is changing its name to Qatar Energy, signalling the start of a new corporate strategy.
“This change reflects a new strategy that will focus on energy efficiency and environment-friendly technology such as CO2 sequestration,” the agency reported.