Qatar Petroleum Announces Plan To Increase Gas Production By 10 Percent

April 04, 2017

Qatar Petroleum (QP) announced today its intention to develop a new gas project in the southern sector of the North Field that will increase the current production by about 10 percent.

"Qatar Petroleum's technical studies and assessment of the North Field have confirmed the potential for developing a new gas project that can be targeted for export with a capacity of about 2 billion cubic feet per day," Qatar Petroleum's President and CEO Saad Sherida Al Kaabi said as he made the announcement.

"It is worth noting that a project of this size will increase the current production of the North Field by about 10 percent, which will add about 400,000 barrels per day of oil equivalent to the State of Qatar's production.

"Since 2005, Qatar Petroleum has been conducting extensive studies and exerting exceptional efforts to assess the North Field, including drilling a number of appraisal wells to better estimate the field’s production potential, which enabled us to reach this satisfactory result today.

"This new project will further strengthen Qatar's leading position as a major player in the global gas industry and underline the pivotal role of the country's oil and gas industry as the mainstay of the national economy. This, in turn, will contribute to and stimulate the economy in both the public and private sectors as part of the comprehensive development of the country and the achievement of the objectives of Qatar National Vision 2030," Al Kaabi added.

The project will start production within five to seven years where the increase in production will mainly be exported. Exploratory studies were carried out solely by QP, Al Kaabi said. It has not yet been decided whether the natural gas will be converted to liquefied natural gas (LNG) or gas to liquids (GTL) or will be kept in its original state. The increase in production will ensure Qatar's ranking as the largest exporter of LNG with a yearly production of 77 million tons for years ahead.

He said the seismic survey carried out in the North Field is the largest survey in the world and was held several years ago. In addition, a number of exploration wells were drilled and based on that the decision was made to develop the new gas project.  Commenting on the Qatargas and RasGas merger, Al Kaabi said that by the end of the year, the merge will be complete.

Al Kaabi confirmed that QP will remain committed to ensure Qatar's place in the oil and gas field nationally and internationally, adding that he will visit Cyprus on Wednesday to sign contracts to search around the island for oil and gas in collaboration with ExxonMobil. (QNA)