Centrica has signed a deal with Qatar’s state-owned oil company which will see the pair working together to pursue international energy investments.
The agreement comes just two weeks after Centrica (down 3.2p at 293.1p), the parent company of British Gas, unveiled a ten-year agreement to buy £13billion worth of gas from Statoil and pay £1billion for oil and gas assets in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.
The companies declined to put a figure on the investment but said they were looking to fund a range of new and existing oil and gas projects, including investments in liquefied natural gas (LNG), gas storage, and gas-powered turbines.
Qatar holds the world’s third largest natural gas reserves and is the biggest supplier of LNG, but is keen to expand its oil and gas interests into other areas and markets.
Julian Lee, senior energy analyst at the Centre for Global Energy Studies, said: ‘Qatar has made no secret of its desire to diversify. It has imposed a moratorium on new projects in its single biggest gas field because of political considerations with Iran with it whom it shares the field.’
International sanctions against Iran mean its side of the massive South Pars/North Field in the Persian Gulf is underdeveloped and Qatar’s more rapid development of the field has led to friction between the two countries.
Centrica already has an LNG contract with Qatar and this latest deal will increase speculation that the Qataris will take a strategic stake in the UK group.
Investec analyst Angelos Anastasiou said: ‘This is undeniably a statement of intent that they want to do things together. It’s quite feasible that the Qataris could take a 2 to 3 per cent strategic stake in Centrica at some stage.
05/12/2011 - thisismoney.co.uk
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