Qatar says will boost gas production by 30%

PanARMENIAN.Net - Energy-rich Qatar said on Tuesday, July 4 it plans to increase natural gas production by 30 percent over the next several years, as it faces pressure from its neighbours in a diplomatic crisis, AFP reports.

Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the head of Qatar Petroleum, told a press conference that the emirate intends to raise production to 100 million tonnes of natural gas a year by 2024.

"This new project will strengthen Qatar's leading position," Kaabi told reporters.

"We will remain the leader of LNG for a very long time."

Qatar is the world's biggest producer of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).

Qatar's current production is up to 77 million tonnes per year. The expansion will increase output levels up to the equivalent of six million barrels of oil per day, Kaabi said.

The announcement comes as the Gulf faces its worst diplomatic crisis in years after Saudi Arabia and its allies imposed a sweeping embargo on Qatar last month.

Its timing is likely to be seen as as much political as economic.

On Monday, Qatar gave its response to a 13-point list of demands its neighbours made for lifting their sanctions.