Newsletter No. 253
April 27, 2006

 

JAPAN AND QATAR TIGHTEN POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC LINKS

Japan has just signed an energy cooperation agreement with Qatar, but the details of the agreement have not been released to the public. We may safely assume that this agreement is related to Tokyo’s desire to secure gas and oil supplies even during a period of global emergency. Qatar is Japan’s largest supplier of natural gas.

Said Qatari Oil Minister Abdallah bin Hamad al-Attiya: “As everybody knows, Japan is number one in our trading with the whole world and Japan is one of our strategic customers for the supply of LNG and oil products.” By no means was Attiya exaggerating: No less than 70% of all Qatari oil is purchased by Japan.

From the business world came additional news on April 6th that Cosmo Oil -- Japan’s fourth largest refiner -- has begun to produce oil at offshore facilities near Qatar, called the Al-Karkara and A-North fields. The initial production is expected to be 6,000 bpd, and will later reach 10,000 bpd. This Qatar Petroleum project is 85% owned by Cosmo, with the other 15% owned by Sojitz Holdings, a Japanese trading firm. Cosmo gained the exploration rights for this project in 1997.

See Shingetsu Newsletter No. 201 for a broader overview of Japan-Qatar relations.