Qatar Keywords:, gas production, "gas OPEC" At the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries, Qatar, a small peninsular state in the Persian Gulf with an area of only 11,437 square kilometers and a population of 1.4 million people (2009), made a breakthrough in the gas "heavyweights". And in the production of liquefied natural gas (LNG), Qatar claims the status of a world leader. S. A. STARTSEV Candidate of Economic Sciences (Nizhny Tagil) According to British Petroleum, Qatar occupies an honorable 3rd place in the "table of ranks" in terms of reliable reserves of "blue gold", which is 13.8% of the world (oil - 2.2%), second only to Russia (23.4%) and Iran (16%).2. If in 1989 proved reserves amounted to 4.62 trillion cubic meters, in 1999-10.9, then in 2009 - 25.46 trillion cubic meters 3. The relative indicators that characterize the emirate's gas resources are unique. The specific density, i.e. the amount of gas per unit area, is 222.7 million cubic meters per 1 sq. km (in the world - 2.9 million). The projected service life is 332.4 years (in the world-63.1 years).4. Qatar's gas reserves are sufficient to meet US energy needs for 30 years. THE KEY TO PROSPERITY IN THE POST-OIL ERA Since the 1980s, Qatar's development strategy has been linked to the development of natural gas, which in Doha is considered the key to opening the door to economic prosperity in the post-oil era. Qatar's Klondike gas field is a unique supergiant North Shelf field, the largest free gas field on the planet. It is assumed that in mining and geological terms, it forms a single whole with the Iranian South Pars field, covering an area of 6 thousand square kilometers. It was discovered in 1971 and, according to various estimates, contains from 8 to 10 trillion cubic meters of gas5. In addition, gas is also available in a number of oil fields in Qatar. Until 1980, domestic energy demand was fully met by associated gas, so development of North Field did not begin until 1987. Qatar's ... Read more