KUWAIT CITY: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Tuesday his country’s trade with the energy-rich Gulf had yet to reach its full potential, as he visited a region where Ankara aims to strengthen ties.
“We want to develop trade volume with the Gulf states, which last year reached $17.4 billion,” Erdogan said in Kuwait.
“Compared with the potential we have, this size is below the required level,” the Turkish leader said.
Negotiations between Ankara and the six countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) are under way for a free-trade agreement. Erdogan, who told reporters he was happy with his government’s political ties with the GCC, had previously said he aims to boost cooperation in the economic and defense sectors.
The Turkish president arrived in Kuwait on Tuesday to lay the foundation stone for an airport terminal project awarded to Turkish firm Limak Holding and a local partner, Al-Kharafi International. The expansion of Kuwait International Airport (KIA) will triple capacity to 25 million passengers a year and is the largest contract to date for a Turkish company in the Gulf state.
Turkish firms have been involved in projects worth $6.5 billion in Kuwait. Turkish companies have been awarded around $51 billion worth of contracts across the GCC over the past 14 years, Erdogan said.
Turkish trade with GCC below potential, says Erdogan
Turkish trade with GCC below potential, says Erdogan
QatarEnergy announces force majeure following Iran attacks: statement
DOHA: Qatar’s state-run energy firm on Wednesday declared force majeure following attacks on two of its main facilities that halted liquefied natural gas production and as Iran pressed missile and drone attacks across the Gulf.
“Further to the announcement by QatarEnergy to stop production of liquefied natural gas and associated products, QatarEnergy has declared Force Majeure to its affected buyers,” the company said in a statement.
QatarEnergy invoked the clause, which shields it from penalties and potential breach of contract claims from clients, after stopping LNG production on Monday.
Iranian drones attacked two of the company’s main production hubs in Ras Laffan Industrial City, 80 km north of Doha and in Mesaieed 40 km south of the Qatari capital, Doha’s ministry of defense said at the time.
The Gulf state is one of the world’s top liquefied natural gas producers, alongside the US, Australia and Russia.
On Tuesday, QatarEnergy said it would halt some downstream production of some products including urea, polymers, methanol, aluminum and others.
Qatar shares the world’s largest natural gas reservoir with Iran.
QatarEnergy estimates the Gulf state’s portion of the reservoir, the North Field, holds about 10 percent of the world’s known natural gas reserves.
In recent years, Qatar has inked a series of long-term LNG deals with France’s Total, Britain’s Shell, India’s Petronet, China’s Sinopec and Italy’s Eni, among others.
