Qatar Petroleum (QP) signed an agreement Thursday with Maersk Oil Qatar, a subsidiary of the Danish firm Maersk Olie og Gas, to develop an oil field possibly worth 1.2 billion dollars, Qatar's energy minister said.
"QP and Maersk Oil Qatar signed on Thursday an accord to proceed with new improvements to the Al-Shaheen offshore oil field, which is expected to cost from one to $1.2 billion," said Abdallah bin Hamad al-Attiya, who is also QP president.
The minister, quoted by the Qatari news agency QNA, said that "after development work, the production of the Al-Shaheen field would rise from 112,000 barrels a day to around 200,000 in 2003."
"The development plan consists of sinking 40 wells ... and building new installations (to improve) production," he added.
Qatar is one of the smaller members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, with a quota of 653,000 barrels a day, which it hopes to boost to 900,000.
Doha began signing production accords in the 1990s with foreign companies in a bid to increase production.—AFP.
©--Agence France Presse 2001.
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
