Qatar can add 5-6 million tonnes LNG capacity with revamp

Qatar can raise its liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacity by 5-6 million tonnes a year by revamping existing facilities, Energy Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah said on Tuesday. "We have the trains. We have the pipes we have the tankers. We have everything. So it is more of a flexibility with a small investment," he told reporters in New Delhi.
"This is one of the options. We will finalise it after reservoir studies. If there is a necessity we will revamp. We can easily add 5-6 million tonnes through revamp and debottlenecking by making a small investment," he said.
In October, Qatargas' chief executive said the company's LNG joint ventures could raise output capacity by about 12 million tonnes a year by debottlenecking existing facilities, once a moratorium on new LNG projects in the country was lifted. Qatar, the world's top LNG exporter, aims to raise LNG capacity to 77 million tonnes a year by the end of this year. Attaiyah also said Opec was not likely to hold an extraordinary meeting before the one scheduled in October.