During the visit to Doha by Francois Hollande last weekend, the French president had the opportunity to see Qatar's industrial and building development. He also had the opportunity to hear from the Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa, about his intention to hand power over to the Crown Prince, Sheikh Tamim, who is 33 years old. Tamim was present during all of his father's meetings with his French guest. The move by Hamad, who was born in 1952, raised questions and was surprising, since he was still young enough to carry out his tasks of governance. However, during his speech on Tuesday, Sheikh Hamad explained the trust he has in his Crown Prince to take up the tasks and be ready for them. Sheikh Hamad also expressed his confidence in the young generation of people who will assume power in his country. The new Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim, has taken over from his father a country that used to be an emirate with limited revenues; the elder man made Qatar one of the richest countries in the world, with his vision for developing the natural gas industry. In 1995, Qatar was a small oil producer of about 800,000 barrels of crude a day; it did not develop natural gas production before Emir Hamad came to power. He turned his country into the world's largest natural gas producer, and the former oil minister, Abdullah al-Attiya, had a central role to play in the natural gas industry. Qatar has the biggest reserve of natural gas in the world, in the North Field; the emir was keen to benefit from this field and turned over the responsibility for building this industry to al-Attiya. Operating under the directives and vision of the emir, and enjoying his confidence, al-Attiya was able to build a gas and oil industry, an achievement recognized by all of the world's oil companies. Qatar currently produces an amount of LNG equals 1.8 million barrels a day of oil. The North Field was discovered before Sheikh Hamad came to power, but his vision allowed Qatar to benefit from the value of this gas. He signed long-term contracts with a number of countries in Asia and Europe, and the United States, allowing Qatar to launch these projects. At the time, the analysis of the emir and al-Attiya was that markets in Asia, Europe and the US needed this gas. By developing the LNG sector, the emir's vision in developing his country achieved a success that outstripped expectations. No one expected the price of oil to one day reach $100 a barrel, just as no one expected that Asian countries would be thirsty for LNG. Oil prices and Asian demand for LNG allowed Qatar to become one of the world's richest countries. Its emir handed over power to the crown prince on Tuesday, and he developed LNG at a time when the costs were reasonable, while the same process today would be three times as costly as the investments undertaken by Sheikh Hamad. Sheikh Hamad decided to establish this industry at the end of the 1990s; today, Qatar is producing at total capacity and providing markets with much of their oil and gas needs. When Sheikh Hamad took power, Qatar's financial capabilities were limited, since the price of oil was much lower. The decision to develop the gas industry was a pioneering, innovative one, in terms of the modern technology used and the attracting of foreign investments. It bestowed huge financial capabilities on the emir of Qatar, allowing him to turn his country from a small emirate into a state with huge financial wealth; these capabilities put Qatar on the world map, playing a role that exceeded its small size. The new emir, Sheikh Tamim, takes over a country with $70 billion in annual oil and gas revenues, as the result of his father's long-term vision. Sheikh Hamad carried out this vision with internationally-recognized success, and thanks to his oil minister, Abdullah al-Attiya. It is hoped that the young emir will have a work team that helps him complete the modernization and development of his country, in the manner begun by his father in terms of industry and gas, as well as modernization in general.
