LNG’s giant Qatar braces for international competition

Qatar is looking to strike export deals with new customers and extend existing contracts, as it adjusts to the influx of new supply to the global market from rival exporters

The world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, Qatar, is seeking to strike fresh sales and purchase agreements with its existing customers and seeking out new ones, as it gears up for intensified competition in global markets from Australia, East Africa and the US. At the same time, the Gulf state is likely to extend its existing moratorium on development of its giant North Field, meaning new gas reserves are unlikely to be made available for additional LNG supply. Gas from the country’s major new development, the offshore Barzan field, is intended to supply feedstock for the domestic petrochemicals industries, rather than new LNG plants. So Qatar Petroleum, via its subsidiaries Q