Qatar fully intends to keep its title as the world’s leading Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) producer and are taking steps to ensure that, according to a top official from the country. 

HE the Minister of Energy and Industry Dr Mohamed bin Saleh Al Sada said the country was keen on meeting the world’s energy demands, reported Gulf Times.

HH The Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani’s recent directive, to raise Qatar’s LNG production by about one-third to reach 100m tonnes per annum by 2024, had been made keeping this in mind, said the top-ranking minister.

Qatar is among the world’s largest LNG producers with an annual capacity of 77m tonnes per annum, and among the largest suppliers to the world.

“Qatar puts a very high value to its relationship with its customers, and hasn’t missed a single shipment to its customers worldwide even under the most challenging conditions of the blockade currently being imposed on the country,” he was quoted as saying by Qatar Tribune.

He was speaking at the fourth summit of the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), held in Santa Cruz, Bolivia.

In his speech, the Minister reviewed the history of the GECF, the seeds of which were laid down in the third ministerial meeting in Doha in 2003 with the creation of a liaison office, and then formally announced in Moscow in 2008.

The Minister added that natural gas is forecast to replace coal as the cleanest and second-most important fossil fuel.

The GECF organises a summit every two years to discuss developments, policies related to the energy sector in general, and the gas industry in particular.