26 Jun 2006 19:42 GMT DJ Qatar Oil Min:In Talks With Shell On Elba Island LNG Access
Copyright © 2006, Dow Jones Newswires
HOUSTON (Dow Jones)--Besides continuing to advance the Golden Pass regasification terminal for liquefied natural gas with ConocoPhillips (COP) and Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), Qatar is in talks with Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) over access to regasification capacity at Elba Island, Ga., Qatar's petroleum minister said Monday.
"We are discussing with Shell Elba Island," said Qatar's Abdullah al-Attiyah. Al-Attiyah, speaking on the sidelines of the U.S-Arab Economic Forum, also said the ExxonMobil/ConocoPhillips Golden Pass project is a "very good project."
Qatar Petroleum owns 70% of the RasGas 3 LNG project, and ExxonMobil holds 30%. The two firms were set to have the same ownership in Golden Pass, which is expected to have a regasification capacity of 2 billion cubic feet a day when it begins operating in 2009. Earlier this month, ConocoPhillips said it intends to take an equity stake in the Sabine, Tx., facility.
Qatargas 4 is a separate LNG project in Qatar targeting the North American market. Qatar Petroleum has 70% in Qatargas 4, and Shell has 30%. Shell has capacity rights at the Elba Island terminal, which is owned by El Paso Corp. (EP).
Al-Attiyah said Qatar will increase annual LNG production from 25 million metric tons to 77 million tons in 2010. The move would position the country as the world leader in LNG exports, he said.
To accommodate the increased production, Qatar will also look at other U.S. offloading terminals for possible joint ventures, al-Attiyah said.
"We will talk about all our options," he said.