QATAR GROK Daily News – Excerpts from International Media Reports
[Links to full articles were active on the date posted here]
Settlement Found Under Qatar Sand by Lampeter Academic [May 24]
“A Welsh academic has revealed how he discovered a Middle East settlement buried under sand for about 125 years. Dr Andrew Petersen first became aware of a possible settlement after finding masonry and pottery at Ras Al-Sharig in Qatar. He thought something might be there after reading sources naming a town called Rubayqa. “But we certainly weren’t prepared for the scale of the find,” said the expert from the University of Wales, Lampeter. The haul includes the remains of a fort, a mosque, several industrial and domestic buildings, and 100 kilos of pottery and artefacts..” [Complete Report]
Qatar May Export Just 6 Million mt/year of LNG to US: Attiyah [May 24]
“Qatar may end up exporting just 6 million mt/year of LNG to the US after diverting as much as 20 million mt/year to other countries, Qatari oil minister Abdullah al-Attiyah said in an interview published Monday, without giving a firm timeline on when those figures would be reached. Attiyah said that Qatar “may divert 12-20 million mt/year” away from the US market. “This means our gas exports to the US would remain in the range of 6 million mt/year,” he said in the interview, published by the Middle East Economic Survey. To date, Qatari LNG exports to the US have been well below those levels, reaching just 60,000 mt in 2008 and 260,000 mt in 2009. But last year the country commissioned several new LNG production trains, with more to follow this year, and much of that output had been sold under contracts to US buyers..” [Complete Report]
Qatar Signs $576m Infrastructure Contracts [May 24]
“Qatar’s Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has signed contracts worth QR2.1bn ($576m) as the Gulf state continues to invest in its infrastructure. The deals were inked with various companies for a total of five projects including the Doha and Rayyan Sewerage lines phase 1 (Mesaimeer), phase 2 (Ain Khalid), Doha South Sewerage Treatment Works expansion phase 2, Al-Ruwais Port expansion works and renovation of Qatar Radio and Television Corporation Complex. The biggest project to be awarded was the QR781.7m expansion work on the Al Ruwais Port on the northern tip of the peninsula, Gulf Times reported on Monday..” [Complete Report]
Tourist Arrivals in Qatar Set to Touch 1.8mn by 2014 [May 24]
“Tourist arrivals in Qatar is expected to reach 1.8mn by 2014 with business visits projected to grow at an average 11.9% over 2009-14, according to Euromonitor. While the global economic crisis saw international tourist nights decline from 1.2mn to 0.95mn from 2007 to 2009; the total number of tourist arrivals to Qatar increased from 0.96mn to 1.1mn over the same period, it said. “Particularly promising is the growing number of tourists coming from outside the Middle East. Qatar has become a more popular destination for Europeans, who accounted for 16.3% of arrivals in 2004 but represented 33.1% of visitors by 2009,” it said. Euromonitor also said many large Qatari companies and financing vehicles were looking to invest in the tourism sector, which however, is not a major contributor to the economy as Qatar’s tourist receipts of $0.7bn in 2009 trailed Bahrain and the UAE ($1.1bn and $7.2bn respectively). However, tourism expenditure is growing and Qatar has attracted tourists in the meeting, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) market, hosting more than 80 events in 2009..” [Complete Report]
