Qatar targets Australia as door to buy into Asian LNG export | Oman Observer

Qatar is planning to tighten its grip on the liquefied natural gas supplies vital for Asian economic growth by possibly buying into an Australian export boom that poses the only serious challenge to its place as the world's top LNG exporter.

Facing self-imposed production limits on its own vast gas reserves, Qatar is looking abroad to invest some of its hundreds of billions of dollars of fuel export earnings. It may well target Australia, the one country that import-dependent Asian buyers are banking on to reduce their reliance on Qatari LNG.

"It is something that is being looked at seriously, and in all likelihood will be the next move made," a senior source at state-run Qatar Petroleum said, declining to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.

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