Qatar Petroleum to invest $20 billion in U.S. in major expansion
Qatar Petroleum (QP) is looking to invest at least $20 billion in the United States
over the coming few years, its chief executive told Reuters, after
the Gulf Arab state unexpectedly quit OPEC this month.
Saad al-Kaabi, who holds the energy portfolio of the world’s top liquefied natural
gas (LNG) supplier, also said on Sunday the company aimed to announce
foreign partners for new LNG trains needed for an ambitious domestic
scale-up by the middle of next year, but was keeping open the
possibility of going it alone.
Qatar, a tiny but wealthy country is one of the most influential players in the LNG
market due to its annual production of 77 million tonnes. It plans to
boost capacity 43 percent by 2023-2024 and will be building four
liquefaction trains for the LNG expansion.
As part of its more than $20 billion investment push in the U.S. QP is looking “at
gas and oil, conventional and non-conventional,” Kaabi said.
Qatar Petroleum is majority owner of the Golden Pass LNG terminal in Texas, with
Exxon and ConocoPhillips (COP.N) holding smaller stakes.
Kaabi said he expected to make a final decision on that investment and whether to
move ahead with the project “by the end of the year, if not
January.”
Dec. 17, 2018