Total to Qatar: 'We're Willing To Expand Further'
Total has signaled its “willingness to further expand” in Qatar, three days before it officially takes over a key role in the country's main oilfield.
Total and Qatar Petroleum (QP) take over operatorship of the 300,000 barrels/day al-Shaheen offshore oil field this July 14 for a period of 25 years. As July 14 is a French national holiday, the French company celebrated early.
Al-Shaheen has 300 wells, accounts for half Qatar’s oil output, and the concession will be operated by the North Oil Company (NOC) established a year ago by Total (30%) and Qatar Petroleum (70%), shortly after previous Danish operator Maersk Oil learned its operatorship would not be extended.
Total CEO Patrick Pouyanne thanked the staff and management of Maersk Oil, NOC, Qatar Petroleum and Total for ensuring a smooth and safe handover, adding: “Total is fully committed to the development of its partnership with Qatar Petroleum both in Qatar and internationally, and is willing to further expand its co-operation in particular with new projects in Qatar.”
Shortly after Qatar Petroleum last week announced its intent to expand LNG production by 30% to 100mn mt/yr within five to seven years, Reuters news agency reported that top executives from Anglo-Dutch Shell, US major ExxonMobil and Total had been in Qatar to learn about any opportunities that might present, but could get no official confirmation from the three oil majors themselves. Total has also this month signed an agreement with Iran to develop more of the South Pars field, the same structure as the Qatar North Field.
Pouyanne’s reference to its “willingness to further expand” in new Qatari projects is therefore the clearest signal yet that Total is fully alert to whatever opportunities might come from that Qatari step-up to 100mn mt/yr.
Present in Qatar since 1936, Total already holds – as partner with QP – a 20% interest in the upstream part of Qatargas 1, a 10% interest in its liquefaction joint venture, a 16.7% stake in the Qatargas 2 train 5 joint venture, 40% of the 20,000 b/d al-Khalij offshore oil field, and now a 30% stake in NOC which will operate Al-Shaheen from mid-July. Regarding the latter, the French firm said the first phase of its development plan for the field consists of 56 new wells to be drilled from now until early 2018, with two subsequent phases of redeveloping al-Shaheen out to 2022.
Total also has a 24.5% stake in the Dolphin Energy, which runs the pipe still flowing Qatari gas to its hostile neighbour, the UAE.
Total’s Qatari production averaged 134,000 barrels of oil equivalent/day in 2016.
Total and QP are already partners outside the Mideast Gulf too: QP has a 15% stake in upstream producer Total E&P Congo which operates offshore Congo-Brazzaville; while in Pakistan, QP and Total are among a handful of partners co-developing local GEIL’s LNG import project there.
Mark Smedley