Qatar is part of our history and of our future,” says Guillaume Chalmin, managing director of Total E&P Qatar. Given the company’s history in the small Gulf state, the statement comes as very little surprise.
In fact, Total has been present in Qatar for the best part of a century having first started operations in 1936. Today, the energy conglomerate has a multitude of business segments in Qatar, confirming its presence in the country for decades to come.
In a country where the energy industry is somewhat dominated by liquefied natural gas (LNG), oil fields are also of significant importance, particularly for Total which discovered the Al Khalij field in 1991, with production beginning in 1997.
Until the beginning of the year, production had been carried out based on an Exploration and Production Sharing Agreement (EPSA), but under a new 25-year agreement, Qatar Petroleum (QP) and Total now have a 60/40 interest in the field, with Total remaining as the project’s operator.
“It’s a really positive step for us as it is a way to strengthen our ties with QP,” Chalmin tells Oil & Gas Middle East. “The group has roots here and will continue to do so. We intend to be here for decades to come and, of course, the Al Khalij field is an important part of that.”
“We are more than happy to keep working with QP on Al Khalij. Our new partnership gives us long-term visibility, as the agreement runs for 25 years. Now we have time to further work together, plan what we can do and further increase the amount of oil resource we can recover from the field, which is quite complex from a geological point of view.”
Since the new agreement started, the effort to better assess the field’s remaining potential has already started, with a 4D seismic acquisition completed in August that will hopefully deliver useful data.
Working alongside QP on this field as well as on other topics is likely to further strengthen the working relationship between the two organisations (Qatar Petroleum International also owns a 15% share in Total E&P Congo, for example). Chalmin says that the potential for more collaboration between the two would always be something worth considering for Total.
“Beyond Al Khalij, everything we can do that strengthens the link with QP is something we would welcome. To support them in developing new oil and gas projects in Qatar would certainly be of interest.”
Away from QP, Total has a stake in Dolphin Energy, where it is involved in upstream gas production to the United Arab Emirates and Oman. In addition, its stake in Qatargas projects involves converting gas to LNG for export.
“These are long-term licences and agreements that will last for many years to come,” says Chalmin. “It shows our commitment to the country and we would consider taking on new business or entering into additional agreements if we think they can create value.”
Chalmin has worked across the globe for Total, including stints in Indonesia, Angola, Russia and Venezuela, meaning he is in a position to pass comment on what Qatar can offer as well as the challenges it can throw up.
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Key amongst the positives, he says, is a stability and level of security that cannot always be taken for granted in other parts of the world.
“There is one thing that is clearly a strength and that is the stability of the country. That is really key for an industry like oil and gas as we’re investing for the long term, and the projects have long life-cycles – often for several decades. It’s something you don’t get in every country and I’m confident that it is a stability that is going to last,” he comments.
“In Qatar, we’ve also been able to build trust and long-term relationships with important organisations, particularly Qatar Petroleum. That’s a strength because it gives you the confidence to work well and it’s an assurance that it’s a good place to make significant investments as well.”
In terms of challenges, he pinpoints the effort to maximise output and revitalise challenging oilfields where “easy” reserves have already been maximised.
“When you’re talking about challenges with gas, there’s a big difference,” he states.
“The key is to make sure everything is being done to maintain the production from the existing assets in the long term. That’s the challenge. In both segments, oil and gas, everything that I see being done in the country go in the right direction to address these challenges.”
The effort to maximise existing assets is by no means unique to Qatar, but it is where Total established one of its research centres in 2009 in a bid to overcome the challenges Chalmin speaks of.
“It is really important that we have the centre close to our operations. One of its specificities is that it is not just working on upstream topics (such as geochemistry, well stimulation) but downstream as well (CO2 conversion into valuable products). This centre is an illustration of our commitment to contribute as much as possible to the country development in the long term, in line with the Qatar National Vision 2030”.
“Another illustration of our commitment to Qatar development is our cooperation with local universities. We want to help them preparing the young Qatari generations to face the future challenges of our industry.
“It is all the more important, as the industry is lacking today skills, especially with technical disciplines, such as engineers and drillers. In these areas the competition on human resources is extremely fierce today”.
“We are trying to take a long-term approach with the younger generation both from universities and our young staff – we know that it can take up to ten years to become an experienced reservoir engineer or driller, for example.”
“When you’re talking about challenges with gas, there’s a big difference,” he states.
“The key is to make sure everything is being done to maintain the existing assets. That’s the challenge in the long-term. But in both segments, everything that I see being done by QP and the big companies is positive, and there are the means in Qatar to cope with any challenges.”
The effort to maximise existing assets is by no means unique to Qatar, but it is where Total established its research centre in the Middle East in 2009 in a bid to overcome the challenges Chalmin speaks of.
“It is really important that we have the centre close to our operations. One of the specialities is that it is not just working on upstream but downstream as well. It is another illustration of our commitment to try to contribute as much as possible to the country.
“We are also working with the local universities, because we recognise that there is fierce completion for skills,
especially with technical disciplines, such as engineers and drillers. The work we do with the universities is important because we want to know that there are strong local graduates that we can look to recruit.
“We are trying to take a long-term approach with the younger generation both from universities and the young staff we already have – it can take ten years of training to become a reservoir engineer, for example.”
TOTAL IN QATAR
– 20% interest in upstream part of Qatargas 1
– 10% interest in Qatargas 1 liquefaction plant joint venture
– 24.5% stake in Dolphin Energy
– 16.7% stake in Qatargas 2 Train joint venture
– Average production of 155,000 barrels a day
