Qatar Petroleum’s head Saad Al Kaabi says he expects Trump’s policies to be positive

The Dollar Business Bureau

Putting to rest fears that the protectionist policies of the Trump government could have an impact on global oil and gas markets, the head of one of the largest exporters of liquid natural gas company, Qatar Petroleum, Saad Al Kaabi said, he expected the US policies to remain similar to what the earlier Presidents of the US government had followed.

Saad al Kaabi who owns Qatar Petroleum is confident that Trump would honour the projects that were signed by his predecessors as typically these projects have a cycle of 25-30 years and survive the term of 7-8 Presidents. Reposing faith in the business acumen of Trump, Kaabi said, “The President is a businessman and bringing in foreign investment into the US is something that I think he would want. As far as I have seen, as far as the oil and gas business is concerned, he's been very positive for oil and gas."

Since his swearing in as President, Trump has been causing angst in the world with his references to ‘America’s energy strength’ that he touched upon even during his campaigning days. The recent Senate’s confirmation hearings with regard to his nominees Scott Pruitt (EPA Administrator) and Rick Perry being appointed as Secretary of Energy, Americans believe that they are now zooming towards an ‘age of cheap but abundant power’. Trump has been reassuring his countrymen with the promise that he and his selected cabinet members would work relentlessly to remove barriers that have been artificially imposed, in order to increase supplies. Their plan is to replace those artificial barriers with pragmatic solutions that are scientific and follow the rule of law. Policy members are of the opinion that the scientific solutions Trump was referring to could be nuclear energy or tapping into atomic energy which is yet to get a political backing but is scientific and has great engineering potential.

Media reports in the US cite Rick Perry’s hints declaring to bring about some ‘pragmatic  and working solution’ to the ‘nuclear waste’ that has been in a bind since the 1970’s. He was reported telling the Illinois Senator Duckworth that he was interested in nuclear fuel recycling technologies that were being developed at the Argonne National Lab. While the EPA Administrator, Scott Pruitt has been hinting at low dose radiation research that he says could change the regulations based on the 1950s.

These broad hints and media statements from key members of Trump’s cabinet has made the fossil fuel industry and its proponents jittery. Many wonder of the transition and the financial adjustments that have to be undertaken during this period of cheap but abundant power supply. It is understood that the earlier governments had placed restrictions on developing new sources of energy thereby making fossil fuel important and most importantly profitable. The steps that Trump’s govt intends to take is to focus on incredibly diverse areas of abundantly available energy sources such as plutonium, thorium and uranium and reduce the prices for natural gas, coal and oil by several times than they are now.

Proponents of clean energy however feel that the ‘removal of artificial barriers’ Trump has been referring to could infact usher in a clean environment. It remains to be seen if that would turn out to be true.

Meanwhile China, Germany and France have sounded their concerns against tougher trade rules being imposed. Qatar Petroleum has joint ventures in ExxonMobil and the tiny state of Qatar is a keen ally of the US as it has extended its Al-Udeid airbase to 10,000 American troops. Given these connections Kaabi is confident that his company’s growth for strategy in the foreseeable future that included major projects internationally will keep his country’s economy not getting affected by the depressed global energy market.

The recent getting together of France’s Total, QP, ENI of Italy and ExxonMobil gaining a licence to explore gas in Cyprus could be a sign of good days to come for the LNG sector and with Kaabi claiming that Qatar ‘shall remain  a leader in the LNG market for a long time’, seems like Trump and his coterie do have stiff competition on their hands in days ahead.