Dubai: Qatar will hold onto its position as a major gas exporter amid the flow of United States shale production on the global market, Total’s Middle East senior executive said on Tuesday.
US shale oil production, along with weaker global demand and market oversupply, has contributed to a cut in global prices raising speculation among shale gas could have a similar impact.
Economic growth in Asia will be enough to handle US shale gas volumes “without changing Qatar as a player,” said Stéphane Michel, Total’s Senior Vice President for the Middle East and North Africa, by phone.
Qatar has cut prices as the US becomes increasingly energy independent. In 2011, Qatar sold its liquefied gas (LNG) to the US for $5.82 (Dh21.35) per thousand cubic feet, last year it sold for $3.4.
Last month, the head of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), a group of 12 gas-producing nations, said it is unlikely Qatar would lower its production output in a bid to prop up prices as US shale is sold to new markets.
