Major Middle East energy producers eager to boost US shipments

Representatives from two major energy producers in the Middle East told an energy conference that their countries are eager to boost shipments to the United States.
"We expect to be shipping about one-third of our LNG production to the US by 2010," said Sheikh Ali Bin Jassim al-Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family who works in his country's Washington embassy.

Ali-Thani addressed the annual energy conference of the McGuire Energy Institute at Southern Methodist University. He said that the kingdom of Qatar holds the world's biggest natural-gas field -- with reserves estimated at more than 900 tcf -- and that it has signed agreements with major producers such as ExxonMobil and Shell to liquefy the gas for export.
Similarly, Mazen Snobar, president of Aramco Services, told the gathering that Saudi Arabia still holds what it considers to be a "special relationship" with the United States.

Saudi Aramco is the state-run oil company that produces and ships oil from Saudi Arabia, the world's largest crude oil producer. With tight worldwide supplies and rising demand, Snobar said that Saudi Aramco "is acutely aware of the need for energy for more people on the planet."
Snobar, like many analysts, cited rising demand in China and India as the reason for the tight supplies that have driven crude oil prices above $ 57 a barrel this year.
"China is the big gorilla in the world markets," Snobar said. "Its demand must slow down."

Victor Carillo, chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission, told the gathering that oil and natural gas prices are likely to remain high for the foreseeable future. He said the Barnett Shale natural-gas field, which adjoins Fort Worth, has become the state's largest and is "the bright spot" in Texas energy production. In 2004, the Barnett Shale produced 368 bn cf of natural gas.
"The Barnett Shale's potential grows day by day," Carillo said. Carillo reported that during 2004, the commission issued 14,700 drilling permits, the most since 1987, and that the 600 active rigs in Texas was the highest number since 1985.