Qatar boosted by Congo hydrocarbon discovery

QatarEnergy announced a hydrocarbon discovery off the Congolese coast in a boost to its international business as the company grapples with the impact of Iranian strikes on its flagship gas production site.

The discovery by TotalEnergies EP, in which Qatar owns a 15 percent stake, is equal to about 100 million barrels of recoverable resources when combined with another recent find nearby in the same licence area.

The find comes as QatarEnergy is scrambling to repair extensive damage to Ras Laffan Industrial City, the world’s largest liquefied natural gas production facility following Iranian strikes last month.

A US blockade of Iranian ports started today to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, putting at risk a fragile ceasefire agreed between Washington and Tehran last week. 

QatarEnergy has made multiple overseas investments in recent years, including off the coast of Namibia alongside partners including Shell and TotalEnergies. 

The chief executive of QatarEnergy and state minister for energy affairs Saad Al-Kaabi said in 2022 that the country wanted to produce 500,000 barrels a day from international projects by 2030, MEED reported. 

The latest exploration well off the Republic of Congo, MHNM-6 NFW, was drilled by TotalEnergies EP Congo, a subsidiary of France’s largest oil and gas firm. 

TotalEnergies operates the Moho licence where the latest well was drilled and owns nearly 64 percent. The remainder is held by the UK-based Trident Energy and the Republic of Congo’s national oil company, Society National des Petroles du Congo. 

TotalEnergies did not specify if the discovery included natural gas as well as oil. 

Further reading:

• US deal offers Qatar a golden pass for overseas LNG
• Fitch says Qatar rating at risk due to Iran war uncertainty
• Qatari LNG shutdown puts 11% of global helium supply at risk

Nicola Mavilla, senior vice-president exploration at TotalEnergies, said the latest early-stage finds were close to two floating production units, which would make it “cost-effective” to develop. 

The attacks on Ras Laffan wiped out about 17 percent of Qatar’s LNG capacity for up to five years and forced QatarEnergy to declare force majeure on several long-term supply contracts.

This equates to about $20 billion in lost annual revenue. It would take until August for Ras Laffan to get back to full capacity if it restarts in early May, according to an analysis by energy analytics company Wood Mackenzie.