<p><em>Doha, December 2019 </em></p>

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<p style="text-align:center"><strong>Spotlight Conversation with H.E. Al-Attiyah at Doha Forum</strong></p>

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<p>Qatar is on track to become the world&rsquo;s largest producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG), the country&rsquo;s former energy minister stressed on Saturday during a discussion at the Doha Forum, which concludes on December 15.</p>

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<p>H.E. Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, the chairman of the Al-Attiyah International Foundation for Energy and Sustainable Development, made the statement during the forum&rsquo;s special session titled &lsquo;Spotlight Conversation with H.E. Abdullah Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah.&rdquo;&nbsp;Al-Attiyah recalled Qatar&rsquo;s journey in the oil and gas industry and how it emerged as a leading producer of LNG through its partnerships with major oil and gas companies in the US and Europe.&nbsp;&ldquo;Since discovering liquid gas, Qatar emerged as among the biggest producers of LNG worldwide,&rdquo; Al-Attiyah noted, adding that the country&rsquo;s success in the hydrocarbon sector enabled it to create a wide range of downstream industries in the succeeding years.</p>

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<p>Aside from local production, Al-Attiyah said Qatar also managed to create offshore projects with its international partners, citing one of its largest LNG projects outside the country with ExxonMobil &ndash; the Golden Pass LNG Export Project located in Sabine Pass, Texas, US.&nbsp;He said Qatar is also a major partner in different gas exploration projects of other countries. An example is Qatar Petroleum (QP) and ExxonMobil&rsquo;s significant natural gas discovery in Cyprus, as well as negotiations between QP and South Africa for gas exploration in Mossel Bay.</p>

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<p>To cement its position as the top LNG producer worldwide, Al-Attiyah stressed that Qatar is scaling up its LNG production capacity to 126mn tonnes per year (tpy) by 2027, which is a 64% increase on the current 77mn tpy. The former energy minister also noted that the country&rsquo;s LNG production will exceed 142mn tpy from the output of the Golden Pass LNG Export Project, which has a capacity of about 16mn tonnes of LNG per year. The project, which is owned by Golden Pass Products, is a joint venture of QP (70%) and ExxonMobil (30%). Asked about Qatar&rsquo;s LNG obligations with other countries, including the blockading countries, al-Attiyah emphasised that the country has continued to honour its responsibilities notwithstanding geopolitical issues.</p>

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<p>&ldquo;We never mix politics with business; this is how Qatar respects its obligations&hellip;you have the right to enter into a political dispute but don&rsquo;t let it affect the economy,&rdquo; said Al-Attiyah, citing Qatar&rsquo;s uninterrupted delivery of LNG to the UAE under existing agreement despite the economic blockade imposed on Qatar since June 2017.</p>

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<p><em>(Source: Gulf Times Newspaper) </em></p>

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