Italian oil giant Eni's CEO, Claudio Descalzi, and President and Chief Executive of Qatar Petroleum Saad Sherida Alkaabi met on Sunday in Doha to discuss future cooperation, according to Eni's announcement.
The parties discussed different aspects of the present and possible future collaboration between Qatar and Eni in the LNG field and in the oil sector, the press release showed.
According to the press release, during the visit, Descalzi met also with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
Qatar is the world's largest LNG producer and exporter, with 77 million tons per year in liquefaction capacity. In 2016 it covered 30 percent of the world's LNG consumption.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, the UAE, and Bahrain cut diplomatic ties with Qatar last month, and imposed a sea and land blockade while accusing Doha of supporting terrorism. Doha denies the accusation of terrorism and contends the blockade is a violation of international law.
The meeting with Eni could be seen as Qatar's aspiration to cement and develop relations with parties that still support it in the face of dissenting voices.
Eni has a long-established relationship with Qatar, being a major European LNG buyer on a long-term contract basis. The contract with Qatar forms part of Eni’s LNG portfolio together with an increasing share of equity production from upstream projects worldwide, the press release said.
By Muhsin Baris Tiryakioglu
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr