Trade between Qatar, the US and EU countries has been booming, with a number of new partnerships announced in recent months. Some of the trade blocks that were imposed on Qatar in 2017 by its neighbouring countries presented a great opportunity for the country to strengthen its ties globally with EU countries and the US.

ExxonMobil and Chevron Phillips

In February, a joint venture with ExxonMobil was announced to build a new $10 billion liquified natural gas facility at Golden Pass in Texas, presenting great opportunities for the sector. It’s speculated that working together, Qatar and ExxonMobil could dominate the growth markets of world energy over the next two decades and in collaboration could be supplying more than 50% of global LNG trade by 2025.

A further boost between US-Qatar relations came this month when Chevron Phillips announced a deal to develop an $8 billion plant on the Gulf Coast in partnership with Qatar.

New tenders attracting interest in Europe

Qatar Petroleum is the largest supplier of LNG in Europe, accounting for around 40% of the EU’s overall LNG imports and significantly higher import shares in certain member states. The news that Qatar plans to increase its output from 77 mtpa to 1000 mtpa in order to meet global demand, and the subsequent tenders it has issued, indicates there are likely to be many more Qatar-EU partnerships in the pipeline. As well as Qatar’s longstanding partners, newcomers Chevron, Norway’s Equinor and Italy’s Eni are all said to have joined the race for a stake in the expansion.

Diversifying into other markets

LNG is not the only area where Qatar is forging new deals. The Qatar Financial Center has outlined a strategy focusing on partnerships within media, digital and financial services sectors. Hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2022 will also pave the way for economic partnerships throughout the EU as it raises the country’s profile through a European-centric sport. Spain is the latest EU country to declare its interest in developing new partnerships with Qatar, particularly within the medical sector.

The official Cooperation Agreement between Qatar and the EU was also launched this month, with the EU and Qatar holding their first Senior Officials Meeting in Brussels to discuss trade facilitation, cybersecurity and the fight against terrorism.

Opportunities from global expansion

With the recent influx of commercial deals, it could be said that Qatar is defying the logic of its size and geographical location, and it is presenting excellent opportunities for companies across a broad range of sectors to collaborate and access these global partnerships.

In 2020, World Energy Qatar will hold an international exhibition, bringing together Governments, NOCs, investors and businesses, designed to help companies tap into these potential partnerships with Qatar – talk to us to find out more.