Qatar to invest $20bn in US

DOHA: Energy-rich Qatar, under blockade by its Gulf neighbors, said yesterday it plans to invest more than $20 billion in the US energy sector over the next five years. Saad Al-Kaabi, minister of state for energy affairs and CEO of Qatar Petroleum, told a conference the Gulf state is looking to invest in US oil and gas sectors as well as unconventional resources. "North of $20 billion will be invested over the next five years in the United States in different projects," Kaabi told the Doha Forum. He said Qatar's main target was to revive the multibillion-dollar Golden Pass LNG terminal in Texas. Qatar Petroleum owns 70 percent of the project, with ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips splitting the rest. Qatar Petroleum yesterday signed a deal with Italy's Eni to acquire 35 percent in three offshore oil blocks in Mexico in the second major Qatari investment in the North American country this year. - AFP