Five more GE gas trains ordered by Qatar

A key element of these orders was for five LNG super-trains from Qatar, just the latest phase in Qatar's plan to become the world's biggest producer of LNG by 2012.

Qatar holds around 15 per cent of the world's proven natural gas reserves, and ranks third after Russia with 31 per cent and Iran at 16 per cent. And the Qatar North Field is justly famous as the largest single reservoir of non-associated gas in the world.

Officials note that Qatar will more than likely overtake Indonesia as the world's largest exporter of LNG by as soon as 2007. This is the result of huge investment in the LNG infrastructure of the nation since the accession of the Emir in 1996.

$50bn investment plan

Investment is also on an upward curve. Energy investment in Qatar will total at least $50 billion up to 2010, with $15 billion alone being spent on 70 LNG tankers to export the gas.

Looking at the mounting energy crisis around the world this autumn, Qatar is uniquely placed to supply industrialized nations with this environmentally friendly fuel and chemical feedstock. As GE's oil and gas president and chief executive officer Claudi Santiago commented on receiving the latest order:

'We are very pleased that our super-train technology with GE-designed turbines and compressors has been chosen for this challenging LNG application. This technology enhances the economies of scale of the process enabling production of up to eight million tonnes per year of LNG per train. This is almost twice the current industry production level per train.'

For while other countries in the Middle East have talked about LNG development, Qatar has just got on with it, and welcomed foreign direct investment with open arms rather than hostile xenophobia. Others may now be revising their approach, but given the long lead times in such investment, they will probably miss-out of the present energy price boom.

Qatar's investment friendly approach is not confined to Western energy companies, the hand of friendship has been extended to the UAE, and the $3.5 billion Dolphin Energy Project is underway with gas delivery as soon as next year and full commissioning by 2007.

58 mtpa by 2010

Last year LNG exports from Qatargas and RasGas - the two local gas production companies - totaled 19 million tonnes to customers in Europe and Asia. But strategic agreements to supply 58 million tonnes per annum by 2010 are already in place with many global power companies, including 30 mtpa to the US and 14mtpa to the UK.

Apart from exporting LNG, Qatar is also making progress with huge Gas-To-Liquid projects. In September Shell awarded a contract to build a 140,000 barrel per day GTL plant to Chiyoda, JGC and Kellogg. The $6 billion Pearl GTL plant will be the largest of its kind in the world, and commissioning will be phased from 2009 to 2010.

But the Pearl GTL plant is only the largest of a succession of GTL plants under development in Qatar; Oryx is a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum and Sasol of South Africa; while ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips and Chevron each have separate GTL projects in progress.

Clearly there is going to be a lot more business for GE and other heavy process equipment suppliers in Qatar, and LNG revenues are going to mushroom.