Qatar marks LNG output boost

14/12/10 15:53 CET

economy

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Bosses of the world’s top energy companies gathered in Qatar this week to mark it reaching annual production of 77 million tons of liquefied natural gas.

That makes the Persian Gulf state the world’s largest producer of natural gas that is frozen and liquefied for transportation on tankers.

The head of Qatar Gas, Khaled bin Khalifa Al Thani, told euronews the country’s economy depends heavily on energy exports: “Gas contributes 32 percent to Qatar’s annual GDP while oil contributes 28 percent.”

That does make Qatar’s economy vulnerable to a fall in the price of natural gas though that does not seem to worry the government’s state planning agency:

Ibrahim Ibrahim, who heads the General Secretariat for Development Planning, said: “Our national vision have already been established and we are working on a national development strategy in which other factors would come into the picture.”

Qatar is looking at increasing the amount of liquefied natural gas it exports by as much as 10 million tons a year by improving production efficiency.

This week the International Monetary Fund said Qatar’s vibrant natural gas sector will mean its economy should grow by 20 percent next year.

More about: Economy, Gas, Qatar

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