Qatar, the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), has fortified its position having completed the merger of Qatargas and RasGas, the world’s two biggest LNG producers.
The merger was announced in December 2016 and the new entity started operations on January 1st this year.
The integration is estimated to save the country around QAR 2 billion (USD 550 million) in operating cost annually, as highlighted by Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, President & CEO of Qatar Petroleum during a press conference held in the presence of ExxonMobil, Total, ConocoPhillips, and Shell representatives – the main international shareholders in both companies.
“Our aim was to integrate the two companies’ resources and capabilities to create a truly unique global energy operator in terms of size, service and reliability,” Al-Kaabi said.
“Qatargas will be the single entity exporting Qatari LNG to the world, under a ONE shared vision, ONE management system, and ONE work culture. It also gives me great pleasure to announce the appointment of the current Qatargas CEO Sheikh Khalid Bin Khalifa Al Thani as the CEO for the new Qatargas. ”
The integrated company will operate under the Qatargas brand.
Qatar has been very busy with the ramping up of its new shipping services following the diplomatic fallout with its neighbours in June 2017.
To remind, the sanctions imposed in June against Qatar saw air, sea, and land border connections with the country blocked by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt.
All Qatari-flagged ships or vessels destined for or arriving from Qatar were banned by its Arab neighbors.
The impact of sanctions on the country’s LNG sector was muted as the majority of its cargo is not sold to its hostile neighbors but Asian countries such as India, China, South Korea and Japan.