Qatar’s crude oil production will rise to 800,000 bpd by 2017 due to higher investments and development plans in the country, according to a Qatar National Bank (QNB) report
In its 2010-14 development plan, Qatar Petroleum (QP) budgeted US$6.6bn for investment in crude oil projects.
The budget agreement followed the signing of a number of technical service agreements with international oil majors in 2008-09 to appraise fields and lay out development plans in the country, QNB said in its Qatar Economic Insight.
As a result, a development plan has nearly been completed by ExxonMobil for the Dukhan oilfield, but no production increments are expected until 2015. A project to double production at the Bul Hanine field to 90,000 bpd has also reached the engineering and design phase, according to Gulf Times.
The report added that Occidental was investing US$3bn in water injection to sustain production of around 100,000 bpd at the Iddi al-Shargi field's North and South Domes.
Qatar’s oil production is split between onshore and offshore and, according to QNB, the onshore field at Dukhan produced around 225,000 bpd of crude oil at the end of 2012.
The remainder of crude oil production is from offshore fields, particularly from Al-Shaheen, which is situated north of Ras Laffan and currently produces 300,000 bpd. Qatar produced an average of 726,000 bpd in the first seven months of 2013, down from a peak annual average of 845,000 bpd in 2007.
QNB said, “QP manages its reserves conservatively and production is, therefore, being held back while development plans and studies are carried out. As these studies are completed and development plans begin to be implemented, we expect production to rise.”
At the current production rates, Qatar’s reserves of crude oil, condensates and natural gas liquids (NGL) are expected to last for at least 39 years, QNB said, referring to BP data.
Qatar’s proven reserves of crude oil, condensates and NGLs were estimated at 24bn barrels at the end of 2012, about 1.4 per cent of proven world oil reserves.
Within this, proven crude oil reserves are estimated at around 2.3bn barrels.
Qatar accounted for two per cent of world oil production in 2012, QNB concluded.
