Qatar enters energy big league

By Stuart Penson

LONDON (Reuters) - Qatar is set to become an energy superpower second only to Saudi Arabia in the Gulf, but it says future growth must go hand-in-hand with measures to protect the vast North gas field, the mainstay of its burgeoning economy.

A string of mega-projects to produce clean, liquid fuels from Qatar's gas reserves -- the world's third largest -- and increased crude oil output will put the small Gulf state in the big league of energy exporters by the end of the decade.

Qatar's Energy Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah told the Reuters Global Energy Summit on Tuesday that the country's combined liquid gas and oil output was on track to be over six million barrels per day by 2010.

"This is a huge quantity," he said by telephone from Doha. "Qatar would be the second equivalents producer in the area after (Saudi) Aramco."

Attiyah said there was strong global demand for liquefied natural gas (LNG), with markets ranging from Europe, and the United States, to Indonesia and China.

But he said Qatar would only embark on a second wave of expansion when it is satisfied it can crank up gas production without compromising the lifespan of the North Field, the jewel in its energy crown.

Attiyah said Qatar hoped to be able to indicate in a year or two how and when further gas projects can proceed, once a study has been completed on the impact of rising gas output on the field's reservoir.

"We have to be very careful (with the North Field)," he said. "We have to pay a lot of attention to the reservoir, we don't want to damage it," he said.  Continued...