Back to black in Qatar

Having achieved its LNG output targets and focused on the downstream, Qatar is turning its attention to upstream oil again

QATAR Petroleum (QP) has embarked on a sustained effort to stem the long-term decline of the emirate’s oil production, shifting its orientation away from downstream. Having successfully transformed itself into the world’s premiere LNG exporter, QP is now focused again on oil. It is a battle that needs fighting. Qatar’s oil output in the first quarter of 2016 averaged 0.66m barrels a day, well down on the 0.72m b/d it averaged in 2014. The problem confronting QP boss Saad el-Kaabi is finding an easy route to producing more from a declining resource. So for now, attention is focused on getting more out of the offshore al-Shaheen field, Qatar’s largest, which will be operated by Denmark’s Maers