German-based E.ON Ruhrgas is focusing on expanding its LNG business in Doha, according to its vice president and head of Middle East operations, John Roper.
The company opened a new office in Doha, Qatar, last month, with the aim of making further progress in long-term exports of LNG to Europe.
“E.ON Ruhrgas has a strong market position in Europe, and we are focusing now on our LNG business in the Middle East with our new office in Doha, Qatar, and our existing office in Dubai,” said Roper.
“The new LNG business is going to be used to support Eastern buy arrangements that we already have in Europe, with recent buys from Norway and Russia. We originally looked at the end-user, producer, supplier arrangement, but does not work for LNG, so we are focusing on an arbitrage based model,” he added.
E.ON Ruhrgas already has its own gas production in Norway and the UK, and is expanding into North and West Africa, as well as the Middle East, in order to secure gas and LNG supplies for European markets.
In 2008 and 2009 E.ON Ruhrgas was awarded exploration licenses in Algeria and Egypt, where the company will drill several wells over the next years. Offices have already been established in Algeria, Libya, the UAE and Nigeria to develop its E&P and LNG business.
“The LNG market is still performing fairly robustly; you have a lot of volume coming into the market in the next few years with the Qatargas 2 inauguration. Historically, supplies have gone to Asia, but there is not the requirement from the Asian buyers to take this now, so we are seeing cargos diverted to Europe and possible the US,” he said.
Roper added that the company strategy at present was “steady as we go” in face of the economic climate.
“We will be looking to develop supply contracts, spot cargo contracts or indeed short-term contracts within the LNG business, and our upstream company will look for more opportunities to support our export business,” said Roper.
