Editing Economy of Qatar (section)

==Industry==
The government considers industry to be an integral part of its plan to diversify the economy and maximize its huge natural gas reserves, which serve as the primary feed stock for the sector. Accordingly, careful planning has gone into industrial development. With an eye towards exports, development has been clustered around the ports of [[Ras Laffan Industrial City]] and [[Mesaieed Industrial Area]], which are key centers of energy. The result has seen considerable growth over the years. [[Industries Qatar]] (IQ), a producer of petrochemicals, fertilizers and steel, is a regional powerhouse, surpassed only in size by Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), the Middle East's largest chemical producer. In 2007 the manufacturing sector made the third-largest contribution to GDP among non-oil and gas sectors, equivalent to about 7.5% of GDP. Industry in Qatar is regulated by the [[Ministry of Business and Trade (Qatar)|Ministry of Business and Trade]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=وزير التجارة و الصناعة|url=https://www.gco.gov.qa/ar/ministries/minister-of-commerce-and-industry/|website=مكتب الاتصال الحكومي|language=ar|access-date=2020-05-21}}</ref>

Petrochemicals and fertilizers supply make up a large portion of the industrial base, along with steel and other construction materials, through [[Qatar Steel]] and Qatar Primary Material Company (QPMC). Indeed, over the past few years, demand for construction materials experienced a major surge as the development boom swept the [[Persian Gulf]] region. But the global financial crisis has put a significant dent in demand in the region, as project credit lines dry up and investor sentiment remains cautious. The crisis has in fact impacted the whole of the industrial sector – IQ saw its net profit drop in the fourth quarter of 2008 more than 90% over the same period the previous year. But in relative terms, the sector has fared better than most and IQ still managed to post an annual profit of $2bn. Large profit chunks from years past have been channeled into capital investments, which should help the sector ride out the storm. IQ, for example, is pushing several major expansion projects, worth almost $6bn, ahead. 

=== North Field LNG project ===

On 8 February 2021, the world's largest LNG supplier, Qatar Petroleum (now QatarEnergy), signed an [[Engineering, procurement, and construction|EPC-contract]] with [[Chiyoda Corporation|Chiyoda]] and [[Technip]] for the North Field East (NFE) expansion project to increase QE's annually LNG output by 40% until 2026.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-02-08 |title=Qatar Petroleum signs deal for mega-LNG expansion |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/qatar-petroleum-lng-int-idUSKBN2A81ST |access-date=2023-06-16}}</ref> For the $28.7 billion NFE expansion project, QatarEnergy has partnered with five global energy companies that have acquired 25% stake in the project. These include Shell, TotalEnergies and [[ExxonMobil]], each with 6.25%, and [[Eni]] and [[ConocoPhillips]], each with 3.125% stakes. In a first phase, LNG export capacity is expected to increase from 77 million tons per year to 110 million tons per year by 2026.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Dahan |first=Maha El |date=2022-06-12 |title=QatarEnergy signs deal with TotalEnergies for North Field East project |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/qatarenergy-says-will-announce-more-partners-coming-days-gas-field-expansion-2022-06-12/ |access-date=2023-06-16}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=QatarEnergy, ConocoPhillips tie up for LNG expansion project {{!}} Hellenic Shipping News Worldwide |url=https://www.hellenicshippingnews.com/qatarenergy-conocophillips-tie-up-for-lng-expansion-project/ |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=www.hellenicshippingnews.com}}</ref>

On 20 June 2022, Minister of State for Energy [[Saad Sherida al-Kaabi|Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi]] said at a press conference at the QatarEnergy that the expected production increase from this project will be 32.6 million tonnes annually. [[Ethane]] produced from the project would be 1.5 million tonnes per year, LPG 4 million tonnes per year, 250.000 barrels of [[Natural-gas condensate|condensate]] and 5.000 tonnes of helium per day.<ref>{{Cite web |last=John |first=Pratap |date=2022-06-22 |title=QatarEnergy joins hands with four global majors in North Field LNG expansion project |url=https://www.gulf-times.com/story/719743/qatarenergy-joins-hands-with-four-global-majors-in-north-field-lng-expansion-project |access-date=2023-06-16 |website=Gulf Times |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-02-08 |title=Qatar Petroleum signs deal for mega-LNG expansion |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/qatar-petroleum-lng-int-idUSKBN2A81ST |access-date=2023-06-16}}</ref>

In a second phase, the North Field South (NFS) project, Shell and TotalEnergies have each acquired 9.375% and ConocoPhillips 6.25% stakes. QatarEnergy plans to increase LNG production with the NFS project to 126 million tons per year beginning in 2028.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Dahan |first1=Maha El |last2=Mills |first2=Andrew |date=2023-04-12 |title=China's Sinopec to take stake in Qatar's North Field East |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/chinas-sinopec-take-5-share-qatars-north-field-east-qna-2023-04-12/ |access-date=2023-06-16}}</ref>

In April 2023, [[Sinopec]] acquired a 5% stake in an 8 million tonnes per year LNG train.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Sinopec to join QatarEnergy's $29bn North Field East expansion project |date=13 April 2023 |url=https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/news/sinopec-join-qatarenergy-north-field-east-expansion-project/ |access-date=2023-06-16 |language=en-US}}</ref>