Doha, December 03 (QNA) - HE Minister of State for Energy Affairs and Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Petroleum (QP) Eng. Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi announced that Qatar has decided to withdraw from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) as of January 1, 2019.

The State of Qatar informed the Organization this morning of its decision, HE told a news conference held Monday.

The withdrawal decision reflects Qatar's intent to focus its efforts on its natural gas industry as the most important sector for it, HE added.

HE Minister of State for Energy Affairs and Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Petroleum (QP) Eng. Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi said that in light of the State of Qatar's pursuit to strengthen its position as a reliable and trustworthy energy supplier across the globe, it had to take steps to review its role and contributions on the international energy scene and on the ways to enhance that role and those contributions in a manner that helps achieve its strategy and objectives in the long term.

HE the Minister of State for Energy Affairs said "It has become clear to us that achieving our ambitious strategy will undoubtedly require focused efforts, commitment, and dedication to maintain and strengthen Qatar's position as the leading LNG producer."

"Therefore, based on that requirement, as well as the size of our oil production the State of Qatar has decided to withdraw its membership from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)," HE said, adding that Qatar has been in the Organization for 57 years and was among its founding States.

Al Kaabi stressed Qatar's pride in its international standing at the forefront of natural gas producers, and as the biggest exporter of LNG, which has given Qatar a strong and resilient economy.

The State of Qatar will attend OPEC next meeting, scheduled to be held later this month, as the last meeting to be attended as an OPEC member, HE pointed out.

His Excellency said "Qatar has worked diligently during the past few years to develop a future strategy in the Oil and Gas sector based on growth and expansion, both in its activities in Qatar and internationally.

This strategy, he underlined, has driven the expansion of our international upstream footprint to reach countries like Brazil, Mexico,Argentina, Cyprus, Congo, South Africa, and the Sultanate of Oman and others."

"Moreover, in the next few months we will be announcing several major international partnerships. Our objective in this strategy was to remain focused on our core business and activities in Qatar, and to enhance Qatar's international standing as the world's leading natural gas producer," HE Al Kaabi said.

Regarding the repercussions of Qatar's decision to exit from OPEC, HE Minister of State for Energy Affairs and Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Qatar Petroleum (QP) Eng. Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi said that Qatar's oil production is not huge and therefore the oil market will not be affected, stressing that that Qatar will be committed to the decisions taken by OPEC until the end of its membership.

Whether the decision is a political one, HE Al Kaabi denied this, saying that the decision was only for technical reasons related to Qatar's future strategy towards the energy sector, adding he sees the price of oil between $70 and $80 a barrel.

Al Kaabi also said that the objectives of establishing the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) is different from OPEC, underlying that it is not among the Forum's goals to determine the quantities of production for the participating countries, expressing at the same time the State of Qatar's satisfaction for the current role of the Forum and its functions.

Al Kaabi noted that the decision to withdraw from OPEC reflects Qatar's desire to focus its efforts on plans to develop and increase its natural gas production from 77 million tons per year to 110 million tons in the coming years. He also noted Qatar Petroleum's plans to raise its production capability from 4.8 million barrels oil equivalent per day to 6.5 million barrels during the next decade.

In this regard, HE explained that Qatar Petroleum will undertake projects to increase production without the need to borrow, given the availability of the necessary liquidity for the establishment of expansion projects, noting that by the middle of next year, Qatar Petroleum will announce the names of its foreign partners in these projects.

Moreover, HE also revealed that a petrochemical complex that will include ethane cracker will be established in Ras Laffan, expecting that details of the project and QP's partners will be disclosed during the first quarter of next year.

In the field of investments, he said that Qatar Petroleum is considering entering into partnerships to produce natural gas in the United States, and it may become one of the exporters of liquefied natural gas from the United States through its project Golden Pass LNG Terminal.

As for the prices of natural gas and the impact of shale gas on them, HE Eng. Al Kaabi said that one of the options currently offered is the entry of Qatar Petroleum into investments related to shale gas, adding that it will take a decision in this regard during the coming period.