Maersk Oil will soon begin scaling back its operations in Qatar after failing to renew a deal to develop the nation’s largest oilfield.
The Danish energy giant has operated the Al Shaheen oil field for almost 25 years.
But on Monday, Qatar Petroleum (QP) announced that it has selected French oil and gas major Total over competing bids from Maersk and other companies to do the work.
The offshore reserve is located about 80km off of Qatar’s northeast coast and accounts for approximately 40% of the country’s daily oil output, or roughly 300,000 barrels per day.
In a statement following QP’s announcement, Maersk said it plans to reduce its headcount in Qatar without laying off staff:
‘Maersk Oil will be redeploying a number of its employees which today are based in Qatar elsewhere in its global organisation. The majority of remaining employees in Qatar are expected to be offered employment by the new operator’, the statement said.
A QP official echoed this, saying Maersk Oil’s employees in Qatar will be guaranteed a new job.
Qatar Petroleum’s CEO Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, while making the announcement in Doha on Monday, said all of Maersk Oil’s employees in Qatar will be guaranteed a job in the new company created for the venture.
In addition to its offshore operations, Maersk opened a research center in the Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP) in 2011 to find new ways of extracting more oil from “challenging” fields such as Al Shaheen.
It also explored technologies to minimise the impact of offshore operations on the environment and houses researchers who study whale sharks, which congregate around Al Shaheen’s offshore oil platforms in the summer.
The company has also participated in several social and educational initiatives in the community, including a safe driving campaign and effort to promote science and technology in schools through the use of robotics.
