DOHA, 19 November 2005 — Qatar and Washington have launched a joint project to build the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) refinery mostly for export to the United States, in a $14 billion strategic alliance between the two countries. Qatar Petroleum has a 70-percent stake in the project and ExxonMobil Ras Laffan III Limited, a subsidiary of the US oil major ExxonMobil, the remaining 30 percent.
In a first phase, the RasGas-3 plant is to produce 15.6 million tons a year of LNG through two trains, the first of which will be operational from the second half of 2008, according to an official statement.
Under the 25-year accord starting in 2008 - signed Tuesday during a visit by US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman - Washington will import 25-30 percent of its LNG needs from Qatar, Qatari Energy Minister Abdullah ibn Hamad Al-Attiya told AFP.
Qatar’s giant North Field, which has proven reserves of more than 900 trillion cubic feet (25 trillion cubic meters) of natural gas, is the third largest in the world.
The tiny Gulf emirate has launched an industrialization drive to become the world’s top exporter of LNG.
The United States “is confident that Qatari gas can keep the American market supplied for a very long time to come”, Hassan Abu Arafat, economic editor at the Qatari daily Al-Sharq, told AFP.
And they “know they can count on the stability of Qatar”, according to former Information Minister Hamad Al-Kawari.
Abu Arafat said the deal with Qatar was “a strategic move of extreme importance, and one which can not be disassociated from the political partnership between the two countries”.
Doha has developed links with Washington over the past decade.
