Qatar Petroleum in JV for LNG marketing

Qatar Petroleum (QP) announced on Monday a joint venture with ExxonMobil called Ocean LNG, tasked with marketing LNG sourced outside the GCC country.

QP will own a 70% stake in the project, with ExxonMobil holding the remaining 30%, according to a QP press release.

“QP aspires to be one of the leading energy companies in the world, and LNG forms one of the cornerstones of these aspirations,” said QP CEO Saad Sherida Al Kaabi in the statement. “As such, it is crucial for us to establish a global LNG marketing arm that will be instrumental in monetising opportunities that Qatar Petroleum will be pursuing and capturing outside Qatar.”

In recent months, Qatar has been seeking to optimise state-owned businesses in order to meet the challenges presented by low oil and gas prices and to gain an edge over potential LNG competitors, including firms drilling in the US and Australia.

In June, QP announced that it would integrate the Qatar International Petroleum Marketing Company, better known as Tasweeq, in order to improve the company’s cost-effectiveness. The absorption process is still in progress.