Qatar Energy, all about the true power of the country hosting the World Cup
Facts, numbers and insights on the giant Qatar Energy. The article of Energia Oltre
Eyes focused for days on Qatar, which hosts the soccer world championships.
The most talked about World Championship ever begins on Sunday 20 November. Although, in reality, only four years ago they took place in Russia. Not exactly the cradle of democracy, of rights. Many times in past editions it was a country that hosted the most eagerly awaited football event by all. But this time, definitely, more.
There would be much to discuss about but not about at least one thing. Who Dominates Energy Affairs in Qatar : Qatar Energy.
NOT ONLY FOOTBALL IN QATAR
A World Cup in the midst of war. With an energy crisis in the middle and consequent economic and social effects. But there are those who smile. There is a side of the coin that gains. Qatar, a small country of 11,586 square kilometers with only 333,000 inhabitants, is at the center of the news because it will host the World Cup this week. And not without controversy. But also because it is increasingly dominating the leadership of liquefied natural gas exports. An increasingly precious resource, to which many Western (and non-Western) countries are resorting to respond to the problem of supplies stranded with the Russian war in Ukraine. What does this leadership look like?
In the first half of the year, domestic oil and gas revenues increased by two-thirds to a total of $32 billion, according to reports from the small Gulf monarchy. These are important gains that must be linked to previous years, notes the Financial Times . Because the candidacy for the 2022 World Cup was won twelve years ago and led Qatar to have to deal with a serious infrastructural transformation. Stadiums were needed from scratch and thanks to the proceeds of Qatar Energy, a total of 200 billion, of which over six were to be dedicated to match facilities.
QATAR ENERGY IN NUMBERS
Qatar Petroleum, now Qatar Energy , was founded in 1974 to control and manage all phases of oil and gas extraction. Together with Qatar Gas and the North Oil Company, it operates in drilling and extraction but also in the control and supervision of the final stages of sale and transport, as well as refining and industrial transformation.
National resources are huge. Those of gas place the monarchy in third place, thanks to North Field. An area of 6,000 square km off the northeastern coast of the Qatar peninsula, the largest associated gas field in the world. Over 900 trillion standard cubic feet, the field was discovered in 1971, occupies an area of 6,000 square kilometers, about half the area of the state of Qatar.
Today the domain is almost dedicated to liquid gas, after Doha decided to leave OPEC in 2019 after 58 years. In 2017, Qatar was the top exporter of natural gas. This explains the reason for the change to Lng. His projects have increased, involving countries such as Brazil, Canada, the Gulf of Mexico, Guyana, Suriname, Namibia, Egypt, Angola and South Africa. Comparing it with the work of Saudi Aramco and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, the FT notes that the Qatar case is unprecedented in terms of foreign rather than domestic expansion.
THE TRUE RESOURCES OF QATAR
"Monetizing Qatar's gas will always be the number one priority, and rightly so, but you see some tentacles stretching out," said Frank Harris of energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie. "In the LNG sector they are starting to look a little more like Shell or Total than a national oil company." In any case, as confirmed by Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi , crude from new finds in countries such as Namibia could provide "versatility" and a source of production outside of Qatar, focused on gas. "We want to have some oil and gas mix in our portfolio." Looking more and more like the international super majors. And indeed, the magnitude of QE on oil remains. Mydan Mahzam, discovered in 1936, Bul Hanine (emerged in 1965 and operational since 1975), are the two reference offshore fields for crude oil. While onshore there is the Dukhan area. Located 80 kilometers west of Doha, it has been in operation since 1940 and today boasts 605 wells.
THE PARTNERSHIPS
Expanding into the world, Qatar Energy works together with large groups such as Shell, Exxon, ConocoPhilips, Total and Eni. In the United States, Golden Pass has arisen, where Exxon and QE will guarantee sixteen million tons of liquefied gas annually starting from 2025.
New investments also concern petrochemicals and solar energy. Even without setting decarbonisation goals. “I agree with ecology, but I always say that gas is not a transition fuel, it's a destination fuel. If you look at the base load of electricity in the world, it will be gas or nuclear for those who accept nuclear and can afford it. The rest will be fuel oil and a lot of renewable energy,” al-Kaabi said.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/energia/qatar-energy-tutto-sulla-vera-potenza-del-paese-sede-dei-mondiali-di-calcio/ on Sun, 20 Nov 2022 07:04:46 +0000.