Qatar "Concerns Over Soaring LNG Prices... Short-term Production Increase Not Possible"

Saad Al-Kaabi, Minister of Energy of Qatar [Photo by Reuters]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Qatar, the world's largest natural gas (LNG) exporter, expressed concerns that the recent soaring international gas prices could dampen consumption. Although international gas demand has surged, production is already maintained at maximum capacity, making it impossible to increase output in the short term to stabilize prices, the country emphasized.

On the 11th (local time), according to Bloomberg and other sources, Saad Al-Kaabi, Qatar's Minister of Energy, stated in Doha regarding international gas prices, "While short-term price spikes can bring profits, ultimately they negatively impact demand."

Minister Al-Kaabi added, "Production is already at its limit. We consistently maintain maximum production levels," indicating that Qatar cannot increase natural gas production in the short term. He also serves as the CEO of Qatar Energy (QE), the state-owned energy company formerly known as Qatar Petroleum (QP).

Earlier, Qatar announced plans to invest $30 billion (approximately 35.8 trillion KRW) in the North Field offshore gas field to increase LNG production by about 50% by 2027 from current levels. Minister Al-Kaabi emphasized that despite rising international gas prices and calls for early facility expansion, the original plan will not change.

Recently, the international energy market has been experiencing a crisis-level shortage of LNG supply. This is due to a combination of factors including surging LNG demand in China, reduced wind power generation caused by climate change, and seasonal factors such as winter demand in the Northern Hemisphere. In Europe, energy reserves have fallen to their lowest level in over a decade, causing LNG prices to soar to about four times the level at the beginning of the year.

Minister Al-Kaabi predicted that the situation will worsen as the Northern Hemisphere enters full winter. Although the recent announcement by Russia to increase LNG supply to Europe to an all-time high temporarily eased the price surge, Al-Kaabi added, "Winter is a concern. LNG reserves worldwide, including in Europe, are very low."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.