Qatari LNG supplier Qatargas hopes to be able to supply additional volumes to the growing LNG demand centers in the Persian Gulf and wider Middle East region, the company said in its second-quarter Pioneer report published this week.
Qatargas, which has a production capacity of some 42 million mt/year, signed a four-year deal to supply 500,000 mt/year to Kuwait Petroleum Corp. earlier this year and delivered its first cargo under the deal in March.
Demand for imported gas in the Middle East is growing as domestic consumption growth outpaces local supply.
As well as Dubai and Kuwait, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi are now planning to begin LNG imports, while there have even been reports that Saudi Arabia could consider importing LNG in the future.
"Our recent agreement with Kuwait Petroleum Corp. reiterates our intent to not only service existing clients, but to gain new customers," Qatargas CEO Khalid Bin Khalifa al-Thani said.
"This agreement signifies a positive future for similar trade relationships between Qatar and the Gulf region, and indeed within the greater Middle East," he said.
Qatargas said the deal with KPC "further enhances Qatar's reach in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Middle East markets."
The GCC consists of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
Under the KPC deal, LNG is delivered to KPC's Mina Al-Ahmadi LNG receiving terminal in Kuwait.
Qatar has been a major LNG supplier for Kuwait. Qatari volumes stood at 0.84 million mt of LNG in 2015, or about a third of Kuwait's total imports of 3.028 million mt, according to data from Platts Analytics' Eclipse Energy.
Qatargas has began supplying LNG to Jordan in May 2015 and has also supplied Dubai with LNG.
Qatar is the world's leading LNG exporter and in May the country's 10,000th LNG cargo was loaded at Ras Laffan.
