More FDI needed to enhance Qatar’s LNG production capacity: IIF

More FDI needed to enhance Qatar’s LNG production capacity: IIF

The North Field LNG (liquefied natural gas) project will enhance Qatar's economic growth in the future but more foreign direct investment (FDI) is needed to further monetise from it, according to the Institute of International Finance (IIF), an US-based economic think-tank.

"While the North Field LNG project will boost growth over the coming years, more FDI is needed to increase the production capacity of LNG, given the large proven gas reserves," Garbis Iradian, chief economist (Middle East and North Africa), IIF, said in a latest report ‘GCC: Resilient Despite Headwinds.’

The country’s hydrocarbon bellwether is expected to raise the country’s LNG production capacity to 126mn tonnes per annum by 2027, a 64% increase from the current level.

"This would boost medium-term prospects and strengthen the fiscal and the external positions," the report said.

Recently, a high-level delegation, led by HE Saad bin Sherida al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, also the president and chief executive officer of QatarEnergy and chairman of Qatargas, took stock of the progress of the NFE (North Field expansion) project, which includes six new LNG trains with a capacity of 8mtpa each, and associated utility and offsite facilities.

The NFE project comprises the North Field East (NFE) and the