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Qatar Petroleum will cut expenditures by 30% in 2020

Qatar's oil and gas company Qatar Petroleum plans to reduce its capital and operating expenses by 30% in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, collapsing energy demand and falling oil prices. However, Qatar Petroleum maintains its plans to raise its domestic gas liquefaction capacity by 64% from the current 77 Mt/year (104 bcm/year) to nearly 126 Mt/year (170 bcm/year) by 2027, thanks to the gas reserves of its giant North Field (1,760 Tcf, i.e. around 49,800 bcm).

Yet, the group will seek to raise debt to finance the North Field gas and LNG projects. Delays in the bidding process will postpone the start of the first new LNG train from 2024 to 2025. The North Field LNG project will consist of six new LNG trains, with a combined capacity of 48 Mt/year; the first three trains rated 7.8 Mt/year each and the fourth train (8.6 Mt/year), which were expected in 2024, should be followed by two additional LNG trains rated 8 Mt/year by 2027.