The year 2025 will be transitional for Qatar. While hydrocarbons profits may be slightly down from the elevated levels seen following the start of the conflict in Ukraine and major liquefied natural gas (LNG) export agreements with long-term clients such as Japan and South Korea are in their last year and need to be renegotiated, the country’s renewable energy capacity is ramping up. Moreover, once the first stage of the North Field expansion project comes on line – expected in 2026 – Qatar will cement its position as one of the world’s largest gas exporters and play a growing role on the LNG spot market thanks to its vast uncontracted capacity.
Consolidations and restructuring within QatarEnergy (QE) – formerly Qatar Petroleum, Qatar’s government-owned energy company – will make it a major LNG trader, the owner of the largest LNG fleet in the world, and a growing force in the global ammonia and carbon capture industries. Domestically, Qatar faces a number of important opportunities for sustainable development, including energy consumption and water stress. Qatar currently has relatively high per capita CO₂ emissions, underscoring the impact the country can have by shifting towards cleaner energy. Renewable energy production is on the rise and, with current clean energy targets leaving room for growth, Qatar is well positioned to become a leader in sustainable energy in the region.
Structure & Oversight
Qatar’s Supreme Council of Economic Affairs and Investment (SCEAI) is the highest decision-making office in the country’s energy sector, chaired by Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, with the minister state for energy affairs, Saad Sherida Al Kaabi, also a member. Representatives of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Change, which regulates emissions and oversees sustainability policies, and the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the main corporate regulator, are also present at in the SCEAI. The key law for Qatar’s fossil fuel energy sector is Law No. 3 of 2007, which lays out the country’s concession rights, the exclusive right of QE to explore for and produce oil and natural gas, and licensing requirements for other companies operating in the energy sector.
The utilities sector is regulated by the Qatar General Electricity and Water Corporation (Kahramaa), which is also the sole transmission and distribution system owner for both electricity and water in Qatar. Kahramaa is the regulator of Qatar’s independent power producers (IPPs) and independent water producers (IWPs). It was established by Law No. 10 of 2000, which remains the primary law for the utilities sector. Kahramaa’s role has been updated several times, including in 2014 when its relationship to the Ministry of Energy and Industry was clarified; in 2015 when the organising of tenders was regularised; and in 2021 when water and electricity tariffs were updated. In 2025 Kahramaa became responsible for regulating Qatar’s growing district cooling sector.
It is led by its president, Abdulla Bin Ali Al Theyab, who reports to Al Kaabi, the minister of state for energy affairs. It has four directorates, of which two focus on the electricity and water systems; the technical affairs, which develops and coordinates policy; and the shared services directorate, which forms the entity’s organisational backbone. Another government body, the Permanent Water Resources Committee (PWRC), was established in 2004. Its leadership committee is chaired by the minister of state for energy affairs, and the Kahramaa chairman and several other ministers are members. The PWRC develops policies to reduce water consumption and oversees water conservation programmes and is the primary water-focused policymaker in the country.
Key Entities
QE is by far the largest energy organisation in the country. QE’s board is chaired by Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad Al Thani. Al Kaabi serves as the entity’s deputy Amir and its vice-chairman, president and CEO. The board also includes the ministers of finance, and commerce and industry. The organisation has gone through several rounds of consolidation. In 2023 QE took over the LNG marketing responsibilities from QE LNG (formerly QatarGas) and renamed it QE Trading. This followed an earlier merger of QatarGas and RasGas.
QE has several more subsidiaries operating in the energy sector. Oryx GTL (gas-to-liquids) is 51% owned by QE, with the remainder held by South African chemicals firm Sasol, and produces low-sulphur diesel. Pearl GTL is a joint venture between QE and Shell and operates the world’s largest GTL plant, producing diesel and synthetic lubricants. Siraj Energy is a renewable energy firm established by the Qatar Electricity and Water Corporation (QEWC) and QE in 2017 to build out the country’s solar power facilities, and became a wholly-owned QE subsidiary in 2022. Siraj Energy runs Qatar’s only operational solar power plant, the 800-MW Al Kharsaah photovoltaic plant. A final player in Qatar’s energy sector is Dolphin Energy, jointly owned by Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala, France’s TotalEnergies and the US’s Occidental Petroleum. It runs the Dolphin Gas Project, which involves transporting gas produced in Qatar to Abu Dhabi, from where it is re-exported to Oman.
Major Player
The key entity in the utility sector is QEWC. It is 60% owned by the Qatari government through various investment and pension funds, including a 10.7% stake from QE. An additional 33.3% of the firm is listed on the Qatar Stock Exchange. The company has a 62% share of the electricity market and a 79% share of the water market, operates six electricity and water-producing facilities, and holds stakes in several more IPPs and IWPs.
It is the sole shareholder of Ras Abu Fontas A1, A2, and A3, which produce a combined 117m imperial gallons per day (MIGD) of water; and of Ras Abu Fontas B, B1, and B2, which produce a total of 1550 MW of electricity per day and 66 MIGD. It holds a 80% stake in Ras Laffan Power Company, 60% in Umm Al Houl Power Company, a 55% stake in Qatar Power, 40% in Mesaieed Power Company, and a 45% stake in Ras Girtas Power Company, the largest power producer in Qatar. QEWC is the sole shareholder of Nebras Power, the company’s international investment arm, through which it has stakes in projects around the world, including in Indonesia, Jordan, the Netherlands and Uzbekistan. Nebras Power’s staff and commercial activities are managed directly by QEWC after a reorganisation in August 2024.
Foreign companies hold small shares in Qatari utilities companies, though Japanese companies are heavily represented. Indeed, Japanese firms hold a 20% stake in Ras Girtas Power Company, a 40% stake in Mesaieed Power Company, a 30% stake in Umm Al Houl Power Company and a 5% stake in Qatar Power Company. Another Japanese firm, the Sumitomo Corporation, has been contracted by Kahramaa to build Facility E at Ras Abu Fontas. This project will be Qatar’s second-largest power station, producing 2420 MW of electricity and 110 MIGD of water, with production slated to start in 2028 and full capacity to be reached in the first half of 2029.
QE, QEWC and Kahramaa are responsible for different stages of the Qatar utility supply chain. QE is the sole supplier of natural gas to all of Qatar’s IWPs and IPPs through fuel supply agreements, which are regulated and, in many cases, run by QEWC. Produced water and power is then transported through transmission networks run by Kahramaa, which also operates the distribution networks that bring water and electricity to consumers.
Size & Production
The energy sector is the foundation of the economy. It makes up 60% of the country’s GDP and 90% of its export revenue. Natural gas production has risen steadily between 2013 and 2023, from 167.9bn cu metres per year to 181bn cu metres per year. Oil production has declined over the same period, from 1.9m barrels per day (bpd) to 1.8m bpd. However, there has been a slight upward trend since 2021, when oil production reached a decade low of 1.7m bpd. In line with Qatar’s strategy to maintain more of the hydrocarbons value chain, refinery throughput in QE-operated refineries rose from 97.8m bpd in 2022 to 115.1m bpd in 2023.
A single field, the Al Shaheen Field, accounted for 103m barrels, or 45% of Qatar’s oil production, in 2023, and is a joint venture between QE, which holds 70%, and TotalEnergies, the field’s operator. It is also a major gas field, producing 187.3m cu feet per day in 2023. The Dukhan Field is QE-operated and generated 176,700 bpd and 224m cu feet of gas per day in 2023. The Dukhan Field also houses Qatar’s strategic gas storage reservoir.
The second-largest QE-operated field, Idd El Shargi, produced 62,600 barrels of oil and 44.1m cu feet of gas per day in 2023. However, the bulk of Qatar’s production capacity comes from its giant North Field, which has estimated reserves of 2000trn cu feet. One section of the gas field, North Field Alpha, produced 651m cu feet of gas per day in 2023, while another, North Field Bravo, produced 1.6bn cu feet of gas per day that year.
QE’s revenue in 2023 was down from 2022, in part due to high gas prices resulting from the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Revenue declined to QR159.4bn ($43.8bn) from QR188.5bn ($51.7bn), while net operating profit dropped from QR97.4bn ($26.7bn) to QR71bn ($19.5bn). Of this, in 2023 natural gas revenue made up QR51.8bn ($14.2bn), refined products QR43.7bn ($12bn) and crude oil QR29.4bn ($8.1bn), with steel products, fertiliser, petrochemicals, and other services comprising the remainder. About one-third of QE’s revenue was from domestic sales, at QR50.7bn ($13.9bn), compared to QR107.5bn ($29.5bn) from export sales. The figures from 2022 indicate that company revenue from fertilisers was nearly as twice as high that year, at QR14.5bn ($4bn), when compared to 2023, at around QR7.5bn ($2.1bn).
Downstream operations are growing steadily, with QE stating the company remains committed to expanding downstream operations and delivering major petrochemical growth projects, with the North Field expansion guaranteeing a major development in the availability of feedstocks. Refinery throughput has risen from 270,000 barrels of oil per day in 2013 to 409,000 in 2023. QE’s Mesaieed refinery produces gasoline, diesel, liquefied petroleum gas and jet fuel, which are primarily supplied to the local market. Naphtha and decant oil are exported abroad.
Another facility, the Mesaieed NGL (natural gas liquids) Complex, takes feedstock from Dukhan and North Field to create fuel gas for domestic power plants and industrial facilities. QE is also building out domestic infrastructure under the Refined Products Supply Chain Project, which is expected to be fully operational in 2028 and will involve the expansion of distribution infrastructure and storage tanks.
Utilities
Qatar’s electricity generation capacity has expanded at an average rate of 4.6% per year since 2013, growing from 34.7 TWh that year to reach 56.3 TWh in 2023. Maximum demand has grown at the same rate, rising from 8.5 GW to 9.8 GW between 2019 and 2023. Customers billed has risen by an average of 6.1% per year since 2019, from 411,000 to 505,000 in 2023. Over the same period, water production has stayed stable around 670m cu metres, despite the fact that the number of water customers has grown from 363,000 to 441,000.
Broken down by IPP and IWP, QEWC has 1550 MW in electricity generating capacity and 176 MIGD water production capacity through its three power plants and five desalination plants at the Ras Abu Fontas site. At Ras Laffan, the Ras Laffan Power Company running the Ras Laffan A power plant, has 756 MW electricity capacity and 40 MIGD water production capacity. Q Power, the operator of Ras Laffan B, has 1025 MW electricity generating capacity and 60 MIGD water production capacity. Ras Girtas Power Company, the operator of Ras Laffan C, has 2730 MW of electricity generating capacity, the largest single power plant in Qatar, and 63 MIGD of water production capacity. Mesaieed Power Company, running the Mesaieed Power Station, is contracted for 1990 MW of electricity and no water production. The Umm Al Houl Power company is Qatar’s second-largest electricity producer, contracted for 2520 MW, and by far the largest water producer, with 198 MIGD of capacity, more than all the plants operating in Ras Laffan combined. Qatar’s total contracted energy capacity in 2023 was 10,600 MW and contracted water production was 537 MIGD.
Consumption
The domestic market makes up the overwhelming majority for both electricity and water consumption. Of 56.3 TWh of generation in 2023, 41.9 TWh went to the domestic sector and 12.1 TWh to the industrial sector, with the remainder divided almost equally between losses in the system and back ups. For water, average industrial demand was 26 MIGD, with domestic demand being almost 14 times higher at 361 MIGD. Per capita consumption of electricity is increasing, rising from 18 MWh per person per year in 2019 to 19.8 MWh per person per year in 2023 when including industry, for a 10% increase. Excluding industrial consumption, that increase amounted to 11.5 MWh per person per year in 2019 to 13.4 MWh per person per year in 2023, or an 8% increase over that period.
Per capita water consumption has registered a drop from 242 cu metres in 2019 to 217 cu metres in 2023 if industrial use is included. Excluding industrial use, these figures amount to a decline from 214 cu metres in 2019 to 190 cu metres in 2023. The usage of groundwater has also declined slightly, from 250m cu metres between 2019 and 2022 to 200m cu metres in 2023. That is still around one-quarter of the country’s water usage; and groundwater usage is four times higher than its replenishment rate.
The country is working to reduce its water losses, which stood at 4% in 2019, increased to around 6.2% in 2021, and were still elevated at 5.7% in 2023. In October 2024 the Council of Ministers approved technical regulations for water-using products including toilets and faucets to reduce their water consumption. Kahramaa’s updated role as the provider of district cooling services will also help further reduce water consumption.
QEWC’s revenue from water and electricity sales stood at QR2.9bn ($796m) in 2024, up slightly from QR2.8bn ($769m) in 2023. The company’s net operating profits amounted to QR1.2bn ($329m) in 2024, down slightly from QR1.3bn ($357m) in 2023, due in part to increased spending on the cost of gas the company consumed. QEWC earned slightly more from its electricity generation division, totalling QR1.6bn ($439m) in 2024, than from water, which totalled QR1.4bn ($384m) in 2024. As is reflected in the water consumption figures, QEWC’s revenue from water has risen slower than that of electricity. In 2021 water revenue amounted to QR1.3bn ($357m) and increased by QR120m ($32.9m) over the successive three years. Electricity, however, saw revenue of QR1.1bn ($302m) in 2021, which increased by QR460m ($126m) over the subsequent three years.
Domestic Demand & Exports
Domestically, oil consumption has seen a steady increase since 2014, when it stood at 315,000 bpd, to 2023, when it reached 370,000 bpd. Domestic gas consumption has also risen but by substantially less, from 40.5bn cu metres in 2014 to 43.2bn cu metres in 2023. Qatari gas exports have remained steady, with piped exports hovering between 20bn and 22bn cu metres per year since 2014, with LNG exports increasing slightly from 104.8bn cu metres in 2014 to 107.1bn cu metres in 2023.
In 2023 hydrocarbons made up 89% of Qatari exports. Petroleum gas made up 60.3%, valued at $71.1bn; crude petroleum made up 16.7%, valued at $19.7bn; and refined petroleum accounted for an additional 12.6%, valued at $14.9bn. The majority of Qatari exports go to Asia, with the region being the destination for $87.8bn of Qatar’s $118bn in total exports in 2023. China represented 16.8% of exports by value, totalling some $20.9bn, South Korea followed with 14.9%, India with 13.6%, and Pakistan with 8.9%. Europe as a whole has exports valued at $24.9bn, making up one-fifth of Qatar’s total export earnings. In 2023 Qatar’s energy imports were smaller, comparatively, with $354m worth of crude petroleum imported and $90m in refined petroleum, combined making up 1.5% of total Qatari imports.
Qatar has finalised several long term-gas contracts with buyers, including a 15-year LNG contract with Germany, signed in November 2022; two 27-year contracts with France and the Netherlands, signed in October 2023; a 15-year agreement with Kuwait, signed in August 2024; and a 27-year deal with China, signed in December 2024. However, once Qatar’s North Field expansion project comes on line, there will be an estimated 61m tonnes per year in unsold capacity available, ensuring Qatar will play a much larger role on spot markets. In October 2022 Al Kaabi predicted to international media that by the end of the decade QE would be the world’s largest LNG trader, due to its vast spare capacity and control over around a quarter of the global LNG market.
Increased competition from the Australia, the UAE and the US – especially for East Asian and Western European markets – may also require QE to reduce the role of multi-decade contracts, as buyers seek more flexibility as they ramp up renewable energy capacity. However, in India, a key market for Qatar, gas demand is expected to rise by 60% by 2030. Growing demand for LNG-powered vessels is another potential market for Qatar to capitalise on.
Key Projects
The North Field expansion is the world’s largest and most expensive LNG project and is expected to increase Qatar’s LNG production capacity from its current level of 77m tonnes per annum (tpa) to 110m tpa in 2026, and, further 126m tpa in 2027. Additional project developers apart from QE include US-based ConocoPhillips and ExxonMobil, France’s TotalEnergies, Italy’s Eni and China’s Sinopec, which each have stakes in the North Field East expansion; and the UK’s Shell, which is a partner in the North Field South expansion.
QE is overseeing a significant expansion of its LNG fleet to be managed by its wholly owned subsidiary Nakilat. In September 2023 QE signed a $3.9bn order with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries for 17 LNG carriers, a $1.8bn, eight-ship order with Hanwha Ocean in March 2024 and a $6bn order for 18 ships with the China State Shipbuilding Corporation in April 2024, which was expanded to 24 vessels in September 2024. In total, 60% of global LNG-shipbuilding capacity will be contracted by QE through 2027. The project will also give Qatar access to large amounts of ethane gas, a petrochemical feedstock and commercial qualities of helium and sulphur. The ethane will be feedstock for the Ras Laffan petrochemical complex, a $6bn facility which will be one of the largest ethylene producers in the world and increasing Qatar’s production capacity by 82% by 2026.
Other major projects include the Facility E at Ras Abu Fontas, which will create Qatar’s third-largest power plant and second-largest single water producer, with full operation commencing in 2029. Another production facility that is expected to commence commercial operations by early 2027 is a single-cycle peak-generation gas power plant project. The 500-MW facility is being developed by QE, QEWC and PowerChina, and aims to help handle peak electricity loads during summer.
Renewable Energy & Sustainability
The Qatar National Renewable Energy Strategy was announced in April 2024 and has the goal of 4 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030. The strategy aims to increase the role of renewable energy in the power mix from 5% to 18% by the same deadline, in part thanks to the installation of 200 MW of distributed solar power generation. The government estimates that capital expenditure to achieve these goals will be $7.6bn, including a QR66m ($18.1m) investment to develop regulatory and institutional capacity, ultimately leading to a 27% reduction in CO₂ emissions in 2030 compared to 2021. The plan also lays out a central role for carbon capture and storage (CCS) technologies, which will allow Qatar to continue using its gas-fired power plants while lowering their CO₂ emissions. The plan aims for a 10% reduction in Qatar’s annual CO₂ emissions and a 27% contraction in CO₂ intensity.
As of April 2025 Qatar had one utility-scale renewable energy project: Siraj-1, with a capacity of 800 MW, which was completed in 2022. Two others, a 458-MW solar project in the Ras Laffan Industrial City and a 417-MW solar project in Mesaieed Industrial City, were under construction as of May 2025. In September 2024 QE unveiled plans for a 2-GW solar project which will be located in Dukhan. QE is also overseeing the deployment of small-scale solar capacity in the country, with rooftop solar panels to be installed on large buildings.
Qatar is a major investor in CCS facilities, and is targeting 7.9m tpa in CCS capacity by 2030 and 11m tpa by 2035, up from a capacity of 2.2m tpa in 2025. According to QE, North Field East project will have 2.1m tpa CCS capacity and North Field South 1.1m tpa capacity, with LNG trains providing another 4m tpa in CCS capacity. The company also targets zero flaring by 2030 to counter a trend that has seen flaring increase from 710m cu metres in 2014 to 1.3bn cu metres in 2023. To further reduce CO₂ emissions, the government is looking at demand solutions. Tarsheed is Kahramaa’s programme for conservation and energy efficiency, and encourages consumers to reduce their water and electricity usage. In 2024 the programme achieved financial savings of QR840m ($231m) and reduced carbon emissions by 1.2m tonnes.
Outlook
Despite current challenges – such as slightly reduced hydrocarbons revenue and the need to renegotiate key LNG contracts – Qatar’s energy sector is poised for long-term growth and transformation. The North Field expansion, set to come on line in 2026, will significantly boost gas output and reinforce Qatar’s position as a global LNG leader. Simultaneously, the consolidation of QE and its expanded focus on downstream operations, ammonia, and CCS technologies mark a strategic shift towards future-proofing the industry.
On the domestic front, expanding renewable energy capacity, new district cooling initiatives and declining per-capita water use reflect early but meaningful progress towards Qatar achieving its broader sustainability targets. As clean energy production continues to gather speed and new infrastructure projects come online, Qatar is well positioned to be a regional leader in balancing economic resilience with environmental responsibility.
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