Qatar can add 5-6n t 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 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.

"Some times when there is a big change, dramatic change, in the market, and if we think we have to interfere, by statute the OPEC president can call an extraordinary meeting," Attaiyah told reporters in New Delhi.

"So far there is no plan to meet before October," he said.