Asia accounted for 68% of Qatari LNG exports in 2020: GECF

* The outlook for the future role of Qatar in global LNG trade is very promising since Qatar has a great potential to send its LNG cargoes into Asian markets with lower shipping costs compared to other LNG suppliers, GECF says

 

 

 

* Outlook for future role of Qatar in global LNG trade is very promising * Qatar can send LNG cargoes into Asian markets with lower shipping costs Asia accounted for over two-thirds (68%) of Qatari LNG exports in 2020, according to the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF). The country's exports of 77.1mn tonnes accounted for 22% of global LNG production in 2020, GECF said in its recently launched ‘Global Gas Outlook Synopsis 2050’.Qatar is the major supplier to Asian and European markets.While in 2010 approximately 50% of Qatar LNG was streamed to Europe and the other 50% to Asia, in 2020, Asia already accounted for over two-third (68%) of Qatari exports, GECF noted.“The outlook for the future role of Qatar in global LNG trade is very promising since Qatar has a great potential to send its LNG cargoes into Asian markets with lower shipping costs compared to other LNG suppliers.“Additionally, Qatar has a strong global business relationship with major European LNG consumers and is securing regasification capacity in countries such as the UK, the Netherlands, France and Belgium,” it said.QatarEnergy took the final investment decision (FID) for developing the North Field East Project (NFE) in February 2021.A $29bn project will raise Qatar’s LNG production capacity by 43%, from 77mn tonnes per year (mtpy) to 110 mtpy.“A long-term breakeven price of slightly above $4/mmbtu of the project is at the bottom of the global LNG marginal cost of the supply curve,” GECF said.During 2021, QatarEnergy announced a new plan to reduce the emissions intensity of its LNG facilities by 25% and of its upstream operations by 15%. The company aims at accelerating the deployment of CCS in order to capture 7mn tpy of CO2 and has set targets to completely remove routine gas flaring by 2030, and to reduce methane emission intensity to around 0.2% by 2025 for all its facilities.Qatar is currently one of the most successful players worldwide in supplying the cleanest natural fossil fuel, LNG.The country has many experiences in the reduction of methane emissions and CCUS technologies.The report also noted the Middle East region imported about 7mn tonnes of LNG in 2020.The majority of the Middle East’s gas imports were from within the region, as the main pipeline gas imports were from Qatar and Iran into their neighbouring countries.However, the volume of natural gas exported, around 160 bcm, was much higher than imports into the region.Currently, the region has over 100mtpy LNG liquefaction capacity: Qatar 77 mtpy, Oman 11 mtpy, Yemen 7 mtpy and the UAE 6 mtpy.Furthermore, around 130 mtpy capacity, including in different stages of FEED, proposed, speculative and stalled LNG projects is planned, GECF noted.