25-11-04 The current volume of investment in Qatar's hydrocarbon sector, especially in the gas sector, will amount to more than $ 60 bn by the end of the decade, HE Abdulla bin Hamad Al-Attiyah, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Energy and Industry, said.
He was addressing the opening of the Institute of international Finance (IIF) Regional Economic Forum for the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) hosted by Qatar National Bank. Some of the leading figures in the region's financial sector and senior officials from the IIF attended the one-day event.

Al Attiyah said that such large volume of investment reflects the attractive investment climate in Qatar and the confidence financial institutions place on the projects being undertaken in the country.
"The stamp of confidence is verified by the leading credit agencies which successively upgrade the sovereign rating of Qatar", he said. He attributed Qatar's healthy investment environment to increased openness and transparency to enhance confidencein the economy and to the introduction of necessary supporting legislation.

As for the future of oil and gas industry in the country, he said LNG production and export capacity is set to reach around 77 mm tpy by the end of this decade, of which one third each destined for US, UK/Europe and Asia and India.
He noted that the new market dynamics of LNG in the US and Europe make it possible for the country's gas to enter such markets, adding that Qatar's LNG will enter the USA and the UK before the end of the current decade.

The Oryx GTL Project is under construction for mid-2005 start-up, while milestone agreements with Shell and ExxonMobil for major integrated upstream and downstream GTL projects have been reached and three other major GTL projects are at various stages of negotiation, he said. He added that two major pipelines' gas projects for export and local use- Dolphin and the AKG projects- are under construction.
"An integral part of our plan to monetise our gas resources and broaden the economic base by way of forward integration, is through investment in added value gas based petrochemical projects", he said.

With regards to oil sector, the Second Deputy Premier pointed out that Qatar's crude oil reserves are modest, but the country has managed to double its production capacity to around 750,000 bpd and the reserves to around 4.5 bn barrels, thanks mainly to production sharing agreements with foreign partners.
"Such agreements are characterized by equitable flexible fiscal arrangements ensuring reasonable returns on our partners' investments", he added.