Like most hydrocarbon producers Qatar made exceptional profits and revenues on the back of 2022’s global energy price spike, which was even more pronounced for Qatar’s core LNG exports (MEES, 2 February) than for oil. Export revenues peaked at a seven-year high of $132bn for 2022 including a nine-year high $86.8bn for the LNG-dominated “gaseous hydrocarbons” category (MEES, 10 February 2023). Europe in particular provided a rare boost to trade receipts as the continent battled a gas supply crunch with the shut off of key Russian supplies (MEES, 1 December 2023).
With fears of an oil and gas supply crunch easing last year, revenues tempered from 2022’s exceptional levels in line with lower global oil prices. Total revenues for the year fell back to $97.7bn, with gas and NGLs making up 61% of the total at $59.9bn (see chart 1). Qatar remains largely dependent on the income from gas and NGLs, with their proportion of total export earnings remaining above 60% throughout the past decade. (CONTINUED - 658 WORDS)