Qatar to Enter North American Shale Gas Industry with Exxon Mobil Deal

On Monday, Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE: XOM) signed a memorandum of understanding with Qatar Petroleum International (QPI) in which both agreed to work together to evaluate and assess unconventional natural gas reserves in North America, as well as potential liquefied natural gas (LNG) opportunities around the world.

Nasser Al-Jaidah, the chief executive officer of QPI, stated that the deal “signifies our joint interest in expanding our partnership both domestically and internationally in order to address the growing and evolving role of natural gas, which continues to play a larger role in meeting the needs of an increasing population.”

Both companies have a history of working together in Qatar, the number one LNG exporter in the world, and own stakes in LNG terminals in the United Kingdom, Italy, and the United States.

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QPI has just recently bought oil and natural gas assets in North America, announcing on Monday that, in partnership with Britain’s largest energy supplier, Centrica, it has purchased assets from Suncor Energy in a $986.73 million deal, that also includes some shale gas potential.

The North American shale gas boom over recent years effectively stole a huge customer from Qatar Petroleum, forcing them to find new buyers for millions of tonnes of LNG a year, which they had initially planned to sell to the US.

By. Joao Peixe of Oilprice.com