Business

Wednesday, December 24, 2025 | Daily Newspaper published by GPPC Doha, Qatar.

Business

Gulf Times

Commercial Bank honoured with Straight-Through-Processing (STP) Excellence Award from Citi Bank

Commercial Bank has been honoured with the prestigious Straight-Through-Processing (STP) Excellence Award from Citi Bank, recognising the Bank’s outstanding STP performance in achieving 99.9% in commercial payments and 100% in treasury payments. Held at Commercial Bank Plaza, the ceremony was attended by senior representatives from Commercial Bank, including Omran al-Sherawi, Senior AGM and Head of ALM; Mansoor Salem, AGM, Head of Financial Institutions; Kiran Gusain, Regional Head, Financial Institution; Philomena Gan, AGM Institutional Operations; Amir Raza, Senior Manager; and Abdulrahman Zaghmout, Regional Head, Financial Institution. Delegates from Citi Bank also attended, including Seemanti Considine, the new FI Sales Head for Middle East and Pakistan; Sammy Yasin, Director, Middle East & Africa Corporate Banking – Qatar & Oman Coverage; and Ikram Kably – Vice President, Financial Institutions Client Executive – Treasury & Trade Solutions. Fahad Badar, EGM, Chief Wholesale and International Banking Officer of Commercial Bank, said:“Receiving this award marks an important milestone for Commercial Bank, reinforcing our commitment to operational excellence and the highest standards in commercial and treasury transfers. Being a financial partner means more than the traditional definition; we are dedicated to setting new industry standards and offering services that enhance the banking experience. Each recognition strengthens our resolve to deliver exceptional banking while supporting Qatar’s ambitious vision”. Seemanti B. Considine, Financial Institution Sales Head, Citi Bank, said:“We are very pleased to present this award to Commercial Bank, which is a testament to their operational efficiency and commitment towards excellence.”

A liquefied natural gas tanker is moored at a thermal power station in Futtsu, east of Tokyo.

Australia forces LNG exporters to keep a minimum amount for home market

Australia will make exporters of liquefied natural gas from the country's east coast keep up ‌to a quarter of their output ‍for domestic use from 2027, under a scheme unveiled on Monday to curb price spikes and help fill a long-forecast supply gap.The centre-left ⁠government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said it ⁠would work with exporters to design a system that allocates between 15% and 25% of gas for ‍domestic use.The announcement puts numbers on a policy that the government has flagged through 2025 amid persistent warnings about a shortage of gas supply on Australia's east coast, where most of its 27mn people live."More affordable Australian gas for Australian users will support our economy and our transition, while remaining a reliable energy partner to our region," said Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen.The proposal will only affect new contracts agreed by LNG exporters, not their existing contracts, Bowen said.Australia, the world's third-largest LNG ‌exporter, ships out far more gas than it consumes. The competition regulator warned on Monday that the expected local shortfall had widened, with output dropping from legacy fields off the south coast.The scheme was recommended by a gas market ‍review ordered by the government in mid-2025, ⁠which was also published ‌Monday.The review said a gas reservation scheme would put downward pressure on prices and urged the government to consider ending a A$12 ($7.94) per gigajoule price cap in place since 2022.The scheme would impact three LNG export plants in Queensland, particularly Gladstone LNG (GLNG), industry watchers have said.GLNG, operated by Santos and backed by Korea Gas Corp (KOGAS), TotalEnergies and Malaysia's Petronas, has typically relied on third-party domestic gas to meet export commitments. A GLNG representative was not immediately available for comment.Rival export consortium Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG), led by Origin Energy with ConocoPhillips and Sinopec, was also unavailable for comment.Shell, which leads a third exporter Queensland Curtis LNG (QCLNG) with CNOOC and MidOcean Energy, called the scheme "an important first step" and said it looked forward to work on the details.Producers and energy users welcomed the certainty they ​said the scheme would bring, pending details ‌still to come. Industry body Australian Energy Producers, whose members include LNG exporters, called for more action to spur domestic production.The wording of the reservation ⁠announcement suggests it could for the first time ‍capture Northern Territory gas, potentially affecting the Barossa and Ichthys projects and therefore Japanese investment, said Saul Kavonic, head of energy research at MST Marquee.JY Chew, Head of APAC Upstream Research at consultancy Welligence Energy Analytics, said the measure could reduce producers' export options and returns on marginal projects."LNG buyers negotiating new long-term contracts from 2027 may diversify more actively, knowing a portion of future Australian output will be reserved for domestic buyers," he added.About 90% ​of Australia's LNG exports go to Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan, Kpler data shows.While Japanese LNG buyers have been diversifying to US supplies amid concerns over Australian supply, proximity remains a key advantage for Australian LNG, said Filippo Pedretti, an analyst at Yuri Group consultancy."I find it hard to imagine that such volumes and logistical convenience could be significantly replaced," he said. "One way or another, I think Australian imports will remain important, and Tokyo and Canberra will find a middle ground."Western Australia has an existing policy requiring LNG exporters there to keep 15% of volumes for domestic supply.