QATAR

Qatar -- Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon Mobil and TotalEnergies have all confirmed that they submitted bids for stakes in the first phase of Qatar's massive LNG expansion project (IOD Feb.8'21). ConocoPhillips, Chevron and Eni were also short-listed and additional discussions about equity stakes have also been held with Qatar's Asian LNG customers. Qatari Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi, who is also CEO of state-owned Qatar Petroleum (QP) said the bids submitted by aspiring investors add up to roughly double the 30% of equity that Qatar is offering (PIW Apr.23'21). The first phase of the expansion will lift Qatar's LNG production capacity from around 77 million tons/yr today to 110 million tons/yr. A proposed second phase will raise capacity to 126 million tons/yr. Qatar is already capturing some 2 million tons/yr of carbon dioxide, but volumes will rise dramatically as a result of the LNG expansion, hitting 9 million tons/yr by 2030, al-Kaabi said. QP also plans a raft of other "green" measures, including reduction of gas flaring and the use of solar power to minimize greenhouse gas emissions.