Qatar has selected France's TotalEnergies as its first international partner at its North Field South (NFS) liquefied natural gas (LNG) project.
The move will help the Gulf state bolster its position as the world's biggest LNG exporter and boost production as Europe seeks alternatives to Russian gas.
TotalEnergies will obtain a 9.375 per cent stake in the project, out of a total 25 per cent available for international partners, while QatarEnergy will hold the remaining 75 per cent, the French company said on Saturday.
“QatarEnergy is moving forward, with the support of our partners, to help meet growing global demand for cleaner energy, of which LNG is the backbone for a serious and realistic energy transition,” Saad Al Kaabi, Qatar's Minister of State for Energy Affairs and president and chief executive of QatarEnergy, said in the statement.
“We are committing significant investments to lower the carbon intensity of our energy products, which constitutes a key pillar of QatarEnergy’s sustainability and energy transition strategy.”
TotalEnergies' NFS investment — worth $1.5 billion, according to Reuters — adds to the company's 25 per cent stake in North Field East, which QatarEnergies awarded in June.
Together, NFE and NFS form the North Field Expansion project, which aims to add 48 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to Qatar’s export capacity and bring it to 126 mtpa by 2028.
North Field spans more than 6,000 square kilometres — equivalent to about half the land area of Qatar — and represents 20 per cent of the world's total gas reserves, according to QatarEnergy's website.
Qatar — which is among the world's biggest exporters of LNG, alongside the US and Australia — is seeking to increase its production and respond to higher global demand for LNG.
The natural gas has a wide variety of uses across the residential, commercial and industrial sectors, including for cooking, heating and generating electricity.
The agreement also comes as Europe is seeking alternatives to replace Russian supplies disrupted by the war in Ukraine.
“This latest addition to our portfolio marks an important step towards our low-carbon LNG growth objectives. It will also further strengthen our ability, together with Qatar, to support Europe’s energy security,” Patrick Pouyanné, chairman and chief executive of TotalEnergies.
Mr Pouyanné also said that TotalEnergies would have been willing to invest more than the 9.375 per cent stake if Qatar had offered it, according to Reuters.
We are committing significant investments to lower the carbon intensity of our energy products, which constitutes a key pillar of QatarEnergy’s sustainability and energy transition strategy
Saad Al Kaabi,
Qatar's Minister of State for Energy Affairs and president and chief executive of QatarEnergy
“Qatar’s ambitious leadership, in further developing its natural gas resources through this expansion project, which ranks among the world's most competitive in terms of costs and low emissions, will make a major contribution to increasing LNG supply in the years to come,” he added.
TotalEnergies' combined stakes in NFE and NFS will add 3.5 mtpa of LNG production to global LNG portfolio by 2028, in line with the company’s objective to increase the share of natural gas in its sales mix to 50 per cent by 2030, it said.
NFE was launched by QatarEnergy in 2019 and is intended to increase the country's total LNG export capacity from 77 mtpa to about 110 mtpa by 2027 with the construction of four new LNG trains.
QatarEnergy similarly holds the remaining 75 per cent stake in the NFE project, which has a production capacity of 32 million tonnes per year.
The company, which was formerly known as Qatar Petroleum, is an integrated energy corporation, involved in the entire spectrum of the oil and gas value chain, from exploration to production, processing, transportation and marketing.
TotalEnergies is the world’s third-largest low-carbon LNG company, with a global market share of around 10 per cent and a global portfolio of nearly 50 mtpa by 2025, according to its statement.
It aims to increase the share of natural gas in its sales mix to 50 per cent by 2030.
Shell, Exxon, ConocoPhillips and Eni have also signed deals for stakes in the first phase NFE project.
The six points:
1. Ministers should be in the field, instead of always at conferences
2. Foreign diplomacy must be left to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation
3. Emiratisation is a top priority that will have a renewed push behind it
4. The UAE's economy must continue to thrive and grow
5. Complaints from the public must be addressed, not avoided
6. Have hope for the future, what is yet to come is bigger and better than before
The biog
Favourite film: Motorcycle Dairies, Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday, Kagemusha
Favourite book: One Hundred Years of Solitude
Holiday destination: Sri Lanka
First car: VW Golf
Proudest achievement: Building Robotics Labs at Khalifa University and King’s College London, Daughters
Driverless cars or drones: Driverless Cars
How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed
Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.
Opinion has been divided as to whether organ donations from a deceased person is permissible in Islam.
The body is viewed as sacred, during and after death, thus prohibiting cremation and tattoos.
One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.
That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
World record transfers
1. Kylian Mbappe - to Real Madrid in 2017/18 - €180 million (Dh770.4m - if a deal goes through)
2. Paul Pogba - to Manchester United in 2016/17 - €105m
3. Gareth Bale - to Real Madrid in 2013/14 - €101m
4. Cristiano Ronaldo - to Real Madrid in 2009/10 - €94m
5. Gonzalo Higuain - to Juventus in 2016/17 - €90m
6. Neymar - to Barcelona in 2013/14 - €88.2m
7. Romelu Lukaku - to Manchester United in 2017/18 - €84.7m
8. Luis Suarez - to Barcelona in 2014/15 - €81.72m
9. Angel di Maria - to Manchester United in 2014/15 - €75m
10. James Rodriguez - to Real Madrid in 2014/15 - €75m
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
