DOHA: TotalEnergies chief Patrick Pouyanne hailed a deal to expand production in the world's biggest natural gas field in Qatar but told AFP on Sunday that more projects are needed and consumers will still have to"turn down the heating" to ease the growing price crisis.
The deal for a 6.25-per cent stake in the North Field East project was announced Sunday barely two months after TotalEnergies said it would pump no more money into Russia where it has huge natural gas interests. "It comes at the right time. Some were asking the question what would TotalEnergies do in place of Russia? This is the answer," he said in an interview.
Qatar, one of the world's top three natural gas producers with the United States and Australia, has warned it cannot send more in the short term."What consumers can do is turn down the heating a bit in Europe. At the moment there is no heating because it is summer. But my advice is not too much air conditioning either," he said.The new natural gas complex in Qatar will only be ready at the end of 2025 or early 2026, he said."We need more to stabilise the market.