Over US$9.9bn in capital expenditure (capex) will be spent by Qatar-focused operators on gas projects between 2018 and 2021, to ensure the country’s production remains around 18.1 billion cubic feet per day (bcfd) in 2021, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

 

Qatar Petroleum will drive Qatar’s gas production, accounting for 62.1 per cent of all the production in 2021. Exxon Mobil Corporation and Total SA follow with 23.8 and 3.5 per cent, respectively. Qatar has two key upcoming gas projects – Barzan, which will be producing by 2021, and the North Field Expansion. Qatar Petroleum will lead in greenfield gas projects, with participation in both of those projects.

 

“Qatar is expected to spend US$9.9bn as capex on conventional gas projects between 2018 and 2021, with spending topping in 2021 at US$3.0bn,” advises Ali Al-killidar, Oil & Gas Analyst at GlobalData. “Average full cycle capex per barrel of oil equivalent (boe) for Qatar gas projects is US$3.56. Shallow water projects have an average full cycle capex of US$3.58 per boe, while the single onshore gas project needs US$3.31 per boe in capital investments. New gas projects average US$1.39 per boe in capex.”

 

Shallow water projects require a gas price of US$1 per thousand cubic feet (mcf) for the development to break even.

 

The gas projects support Qatar Petroleum’s aim, announced last year, to boost its natural gas production by 33 per cent – from 77 million to 100 million tonnes per year – in response to the economic blockade imposed on it by several Arab states.  Qatar Petroleum has yet to set a deadline for reaching the 100-million-tonne annual productions target, with its CEO Mr Saad al-Kaabi stating that it would depend on the agreements signed by the company with its future partners.