US and European oil majors are filing in with offers to help Qatar develop new gas projects, the country\u2019s energy minister said, despite a protracted crisis in the Persian Gulf region and pressure on firms to chose between Qatar and its neighbors.<\/p>\n
Mohammed al-Sada told Reuters that Doha had seen unprecedented interest from majors, as Qatar seeks to expand its gas capacity to 100 million tons a year from the current 77 million to cement its position as the world\u2019s largest exporter, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth US and EU majors have shown great interest. We did expect this, but they surprised us on the upside by the degree of keenness,\u201d said al-Sada, when asked whether firms had expressed concerns about potential pressure from Saudi Arabia and the UAE not to cooperate with Qatar.<\/p>\n
OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia and the UAE cut ties with Doha in June, saying Qatar backed terrorism. Qatar rejected the accusation. Reuters reported last year that Qatar\u2019s traditional partners ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch\/Shell and Total, which helped turn the country into a gas superpower, had all shown interest in new projects. The companies are also heavily present in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have newcomers too,\u201d said al-Sada.<\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia and the UAE have presented demands which, Qatar says, would amount to surrendering its sovereignty if implemented. The dialogue between the former allies has been effectively frozen over the past six months despite mediation attempts by the United States.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are happy to sit down with everyone, but with one message in mind: Preserving our sovereignty is a paramount condition,\u201d said al-Sada.<\/p>\n
The crisis has prompted Qatar to abandon plans to supply more gas to Saudi Arabia and the UAE. It is now looking for new markets for its liquefied natural gas.<\/p>\n
\u201cLNG is not a regional commodity. We can reach all corners in the world unlike via pipelines which are restricted from point A to B and are crossing geopolitically challenging areas,\u201d said al-Sada. \u201cWe turned challenges into an opportunity. Internally, we rationalized for better efficiency,\u201d he said, citing the merger of Qatar\u2019s two top gas companies QatarGas and RasGas as an example.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
US and European oil majors are filing in with offers to help Qatar develop new gas projects, the country\u2019s energy minister said, despite a protracted crisis in the Persian Gulf region and pressure on firms to chose between Qatar and its neighbors. Mohammed al-Sada told Reuters that Doha had seen unprecedented interest from majors, as […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[722,252,639,56,95,177],"yoast_head":"\n