Qatar Petroleum set to invest $20bn in US oil and gas sector over next five years

Qatar Petroleum, the world’s biggest seller of liquefied natural gas (LNG), is looking to get even bigger, investing $20bn in America’s oil and gas fields at a time when rival US exporters are expanding, reported Gulf Times.

The investments will be made over five years, Chief Executive Officer Saad Sherida Al Kaabi said in Washington. Some of that will likely go toward lining up gas supplies for the Golden Pass LNG export project in Texas, being developed with ExxonMobil Corp.

Al Kaabi said Qatar will probably be announcing a deal in the US “before the end of the year,” but he declined to say whether it would involve oil or gas. Qatar is also looking to invest an additional $5bn in so-called downstream assets, such as chemicals projects, he said.

“We’ve a huge growth plan. We’re talking to many people and many companies in the US,” Al Kaabi said, adding that the company planned to go from 4.8mn barrels of oil equivalent a day to 6.5mn within eight years.

The state-owned company is looking at both shale and conventional resources in the US, according to Mr Al Kaabi, reported Business Times.

Qatar Petroleum and its partners in the Golden Pass project are now weighing commercial bids from contractors, and expect to decide whether to move forward with the project by the first quarter of 2019, he said.

“We’re in the final stages to really make a decision very soon,” he said. “We’re very eager to do the project. We think this is a very important project for us, and we believe we’re aligned with ExxonMobil on that.”

The final go-ahead will come only after the company secures gas to feed the project. “You can buy gas off the market, but we want to be naturally hedged.”

While Qatar is currently the top LNG exporter, according to the International Gas Union, the US is on the rise, and analysts have speculated it could grab the top spot in the next two years as new American projects get the green light.

Two US export terminals are in service — one in Louisiana and one in Maryland — and four more are expected to come online by 2020.