Exclusive: #Qatar delays partnerships for natural gas expansion amid price collapse - sources - Reuters

Exclusive: Qatar delays partnerships for natural gas expansion amid price collapse - sources - Reuters:

Qatar has delayed choosing Western partners for the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) project by several months after surprising the industry with a big expansion plan despite a collapse in global gas prices, four sources said.

State-run Qatar Petroleum (QP) declined to comment on the reported delay, which comes as the global gas industry faces the major challenge of a supply glut due to booming U.S. production and a drop in Chinese demand.

Qatar, the lowest cost producer of LNG, sits on the world’s largest gas field and offers terms that led oil majors ExxonMobil (XOM.N) and Royal Dutch/Shell (RDSa.L) to invest tens of billions of dollars in the past.

The big energy firms have waited a decade for a new opportunity to invest in Qatar after the country put further development on hold to ensure the giant North Field could sustain production.