After Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt imposed an economic embargo on Qatar on 5 June 2017 it swiftly became clear that Doha’s hydrocarbon wealth would enable it to ride out the storm (MEES, 9 June 2017). As the world’s largest LNG exporter with 77mn t/y capacity, Qatar was too important an economic partner for key Asian economies. Its exports have therefore been largely uninterrupted (MEES, 8 June and MEES, 9 June 2017).
This week saw the embargo enter its second year. The emirate opted to mark the anniversary early, kicking off the week by announcing its “first significant international investment in unconventional oil and gas.” In a heavily advertised 3 June joint press conference Qatar Petroleum (QP) announced it is to farm into ExxonMobil’s assets in Argentina’s heavily prospective Vaca Muerta play. (CONTINUED - 909 WORDS)
