Qatar Drops Idea to Buy Stake in Russian LNG Project

Qatar has dropped plans to negotiate to buy a stake in Novatek’s Arctic liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, Reuters has reported quoting an executive at Qatar Petroleum International (QPI).

"At QPI we look at opportunities on a case-by-case basis. Yamal was one of those opportunities," Ahmed Abdulqader al-Ahmed, QPI's executive upstream director, said at an industry event in Doha, Reuters reported.

He said that the idea has been "shelved, but not killed.”

The project to develop the South Tambey field could produce more than 15 million tonnes of LNG per year (mtpa) from 2018, but the Arctic operating environment could make it more costly than Qatar's existing capacity of 77 mtpa, Reuters said.

Novatek has said it plans to retain at least 51 percent of the project but has been looking for partners to help develop it. France's Total owns 20 percent.