Qatar Petroleum kicks off energy sector industries localization program

LNG giant Qatar Petroleum launched its localization program for services and industries in the energy sector aiming to localize the sector’s supply chain. 

The program is Qatar Petroleum effort towards optimizing Qatar’s natural resources, higher efficiency and returns, and growth and expansion.

Speaking of the program, named Tatween, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, minister of state for energy affairs, president and CEO of Qatar Petroleum, said it “is made up of two parts.”

The first is creating 100 new investment opportunities within the energy sector. In this effort, Qatar Petroleum and its companies will offer incentives and offtake guarantees according to the program’s guidelines. The second part is an In-Country Value policy, which rewards suppliers and contractors who execute their contracts and agreements by maximizing local content, Al-Kaabi said.

The move comes following the decisions to raise Qatar Petroleum’s production output from 4.8 million to 6.5 million barrels of oil equivalent per year, raise Qatar’s LNG production from 77 to 110 million tons per year by 2024, develop a new world-scale Petrochemicals Complex with the largest ethane cracker in the Middle East, and the company’s most recent decision to invest more than 10 billion dollars in the Golden Pass LNG export facility in Sabine Pass, Texas.

Three agreements with international companies with a total value of 9 billion Qatari Riyals ($2.47 billion) were signed during the launch ceremony, Qatar Petroleum said.

Qatar Petroleum and Baker Hughes, a GE company, signed a memorandum of understanding designed to help create new opportunities to expand its presence Qatar, and to enhance its operations through continued investment in technologies and services in the years to come.

Qatar Petroleum also signed a memorandum of understanding with Schlumberger. The agreement will help increase the footprint of Schlumberger, which plans to expand its current operations in Zikreet, open a new integrated base facility in Ras Laffan by the end of 2019, and establish a Center of Efficiency in the Free Zone to be used as a regional maintenance center.

Also on the sidelines of the launch ceremony, Nakilat and McDermott signed an agreement to form a joint-venture company providing offshore and onshore fabrication services in Qatar.

Qatar Petroleum said it is working with various government authorities and stakeholders to facilitate the provision of the required infrastructure and for the creation of appropriate policies, regulations and incentives to attract local and international companies to establish operations in Qatar.

It is also coordinating with other stakeholders to help facilitate the development of new industries in the energy sector in order to ensure they acquire the capacity for greater competitiveness and financial sustainability, the statement reads.