MOSCOW (MRC) -- Qatar changed the name of its state-owned oil and gas firm to Qatar Energy from Qatar Petroleum to reflect what it said was a broader strategy but said it had no plans to sell assets to raise funds as other Gulf state producers have, reported Reuters.
"We have plenty of cash," Chief Executive Saad al-Kaabi said on Monday, indicating the Qatari firm would not follow in the footsteps of Gulf rivals which have sold assets, such as Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).
Kaabi, who is also minister of state for energy, said the new name better represented a broader strategy included a focus on energy efficiency and environmentally-friendly technology such as capturing and storing carbon dioxide.
Qatar is the world's biggest supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Qatar Energy handles the country's LNG production and its more modest oil output, alongside a range of other industries, such as a gas-to-liquids project and petrochemicals production.
Amid surging global gas prices, Qatar aims to expand LNG output to 127 million tons a year by 2027 from 77 million tons.
Kaabi said gas, which generates lower emissions than other fossil fuels such as oil and coal, would remain part of the global energy mix for years to come even as the world shifts to more renewable energy sources.
As MRC informed earlier, in July 2021, Qatar Petroleum entered into a long-term Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Shell for the supply of 1 million tons per year of LNG to the People's Republic of China for ten years. China is considered a major customer for the State of Qatar and a strategic partner in the energy sector. With the conclusion of this agreement, China will be supplied with approximately 12 MPTA of LNG under long term SPAs from Qatar.
We remind that Royal Dutch Shell plans to reduce its refining and chemicals portfolio by more than half, it said in July 2020 without giving a precise timeframe. The move is part of the Anglo-Dutch company's plan to shrink its oil and gas business and expand its renewables and power division to reduce greenhouse gas emissions sharply by 2050.
Ethylene and propylene are the main feedstocks for the production of polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), respectively.
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 1,396,960 tonnes in January-July 2021, up by 7% year on year. Shipments of all grades of ethylene polymers increased. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market were 841,990 tonnes in the first seven months of 2021, up by 29% year on year. Supply of propylene homopolymers (homopolymer PP) and block-copolymers of propylene (PP block copolymers) increased, whereas supply of statistical copolymers of propylene (PP random copolymers) subsided.
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