Qatar’s LNG drive in top gear

Qatar is pushing aside all other considerations to concentrate on the LNG-production race

When it comes to liquefied natural gas, Qatar doesn't like to do things by halves. After establishing itself as the world's largest producer (77m tonnes a year), it's taking steps to ensure that it remains dominant when rivals that might overtake it in the short run have likely fallen by the wayside. The source of Qatar's wealth is the vast store of natural gas (the world's third-largest reserves) below the waters of the Gulf in the North Field—shared with Iran, which calls it South Pars. North Field gas was the catalyst for the boom in LNG development in the late 1990s and early years of this century. In 2005, the Qatari authorities decided that the draw from the North Field was at risk of