Qatar keeping close eye on LNG debate in US energy bill: minister

Washington (Platts)--9May2005

Qatar is keeping a close eye on energy bill developments as they relate to
LNG, Qatari Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah said Monday. "Considering our
commitment to contribute in a significant way to supply natural gas to the US
market, I hope that the final bill will help encourage producers to bring in
more imports of natural gas to US in the form of LNG," Attiyah said during a
meeting at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 

Qatar, second behind Indonesia as the largest LNG exporter in the world, seeks
to take the top slot by 2010 with a 77-mil mt/year export target. As much as
30-mil mt/year of that LNG could be sent to the US, he said. 

The US House of Representatives in April passed a comprehensive energy bill
that included a controversial provision giving federal regulators more control
in the process of approving LNG import terminals. The Senate Energy Committee
is expected to consider energy legislation later this month.

This story was originally published in Platts Natural Gas Alert
http://www.naturalgasalert.platts.com

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