QP CEO: LNG shortage to hit sooner than expected

The global liquefied natural gas market could see a shortage sooner that it was initially anticipated, Qatar Petroleum’s president and CEO Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi said. 

Speaking at a conference, Al-Kaabi said the shortage will not only come sooner than expected but it will also be bigger than predicted, Platts reports.

The market tightening is seen as a result of fewer FIDs being reached on new LNG projects.

Qatar Petroleum recently revised its expansion plans, lifting the expansion capacity to 110 mtpa with the addition of a fourth train to its expansion project.

With the addition of the fourth train, the new project will produce about 32 million tons of LNG annually, 4,000 tons/day of ethane, 260,000 barrels/day of condensate, and 11,000 tons/day of LPG, in addition to approximately 20 tons per day of pure helium, the company said in an earlier statement.

Al-Kaabi noted the financial investment on the expansion is expected before the end of 2019 with first production expected before the end of 2023.

He added that no outside investment or any binding LNG supply deals are needed for the expansion to go ahead.

In addition to Qatar’s production capacity expansion, the company could reach a final investment decision on a US-based LNG export project in a few months.

Al-Kaabi said the Golden Pass LNG project would give the company a new access to Latin American and European markets with the first volumes expected to hit the market in 2025.

LNG World News Staff