ABU DHABI — Qatar plans to invest $5 billion through 2010 in an
attempt to increase the production of crude oil.
Qatari Energy Minister Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Attiyah said the
price of oil would drop by $15 should politicians end their expressions of
concern over a halt in supplies.
Al Attiyah said the record oil prices of more than $75 per barrel was
the result of fears and speculation within the market.
Qatar intends
to allocate $5 billion over the next five years to boost oil production
capacity to 1.1 million barrels per day.
Current production was reported at
850,000 barrels per day.
"We are putting a lot of effort and investment into increasing our oil
output," Al Attiyah said on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum
in Doha on April 23.
