INTERVIEW-Qatar LPG output to rise to 12.6mln tpy 2012-Tasweeq

Published: 04 May 2010 21:55:45 PST

SINGAPORE, May 5 - Qatar will produce 12.6 million tonnes per year (tpy) of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) by 2012, up from 8.2 million tpy now, making it one of the biggest LPG producers in the Middle East, the CEO of Qatar International Petroleum Marketing Co, also known as Tasweeq, said on Wednesday.

Qatar also now exports 90 percent of its condensate production, oil products such naphtha, gasoline and gas oil, as well as LPG to Asia, Saad Abdullah Al Kuwari, Chief Executive of Tasweeq, told Reuters.

"The incremental LPG volumes will come from new LNG trains," he said. "Asia represents 90 percent of our products."

Al Kuwari was upbeat about demand for transportation fuels and petrochemical feedstocks.

"There is positive signals with regard to the economy, the economy is looking brighter this year than last year," he said ahead of the opening of Tasweeq's Singapore representative office.

He said naphtha will have the fastest growth rate among oil products, driven by demand for gasoline during the U.S. peak driving season and current strong petrochemical margins due to robust Chinese demand for polymers. (Reporting by Florence Tan and Seng Li Peng; Editing by Ramthan Hussain)