Qatar may hedge some oil output

Doha: Qatar is considering hedging some of its oil output for 2012, its energy minister Mohammad Al Sada said Tuesday, in a sign that Gulf oil producers are concerned prices could sag due to gloomy economic growth prospects.

Oil prices fell more than $2 per barrel Tuesday as worries over the Eurozone debt crisis and the collapse of broker-dealer MF Global darkened the outlook for the global economy.

The Financial Times said last week Qatar had joined Mexico in taking out an insurance policy against falling oil prices by hedging some of its oil for 2012 to guard against the threat of weak economic growth and a rebound in Libyan output crude dragging down prices.

Al Sada said the small oil producer was studying the possibility of hedging its oil output but declined to comment on volumes or price. "It is being considered," he told reporters on the sidelines of an event in Doha.

Qatar, a member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), typically produces only around 735,000 barrels a day (bpd) of crude oil, according to official government figures, making it a minor oil supplier to global markets.

But it also produces a similar number of barrels each day of natural gas liquids (NGLs) and is the world's leading exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) — sales of which are commonly linked to oil.

Oil producers can partially protect themselves against falling prices by hedging their production.