industry oil and gas founded 1974 headquarters doha qatar key people mohammed bin saleh al sada chairman saad sherida al kaabi president and chief executive director 1 products oil fuels lubricants natural gas lng petrochemicals revenue us 51.6 billion 2011 profit us 14.9 billion 2011 total assets us 107.8 billion 2011 owner government of qatar subsidiaries qatargas operating company ltd. rasgas company limited industries qatar qatar petroleum international qatar chemical company limited gulf international services qatar intermediate industries co. ltd. website www.qp.com.qa qatar petroleum qp is a state owned petroleum company in qatar . the company operates all oil and gas activities in qatar including exploration production refining transport and storage . qp s chairman is mohammed bin saleh al sada minister of energy & industry and mr. saad sherida al kaabi is the company president and ceo . qp s operations are therefore directly linked with state planning agencies regulatory authorities and policymaking bodies . together revenues from oil and natural gas amount to 60 percent of the country s gdp . currently it is the third largest oil company in the world by oil and gas reserves . 2 contents 1 history 1.1 establishment 1.2 worker strikes 1.3 nationalization of oil sector 2 pipelines exports and refineries 3 dolphin project 4 gas to liquids 5 subsidiaries 5.1 qatar petrochemical co. 5.2 qatar fertiliser co. 5.3 qatar chemical co. 5.4 qatar vinyl co. qvc 5.5 other subsidiaries 6 notes 7 references history edit establishment edit after world war i and the collapse of the ottoman empire qatar fell within the british sphere of influence and the first onshore oil concession in the country was awarded in 1935 to british petroleum s predecessor the anglo iranian oil co. aioc . because of its obligations under the red line agreement aioc transferred the concession to an associate company of the iraq petroleum co. petroleum development qatar ltd. pdq which would operate the concession . pdq was later renamed the qatar petroleum co. qpc . in october 1938 dukhan no. 1 was spudded and yielded 4 000 barrels of oil per day by january 1940 . however world war ii delayed development until 1947 and the first crude exports occurred in 1949 . 3 the first offshore concessions were granted in 1949 to a canadian company the international marine oil company imoc which was a subsidiary of a us company the superior oil co. and the london registered central mining & investment co. 4 in 1952 after imoc had withdrawn the shell co. qatar scq acquired exploration rights to most offshore territory . in 1960 and 1963 the idd al shargi and maydan mahzam fields were discovered respectively . 3 the largest offshore field bul hanine was discovered in 1970 and came onstream in 1972 . worker strikes edit there were a number of protests by oil workers in the company during the 1950s and 1960s . working hours wages and conditions varied widely prior to the introduction of labor regulations in the country . overtime payment was inconsistent workers could be fired for minor infractions and the majority made a meager salary when compared to high ranking al thanis british officials and foreign clerks . early strikes focused on wages and conditions and the emir encouraged strikes when negotiating new contracts to pressure concessions from the oil company . 5 after a strike in 1951 the government deported dhofari laborers due to conflicts with qatari laborers . 6 in july 1951 nearly 900 laborers refused to return to work after the arrest of 6 individuals who led a strike . markets in doha stopped operation in a show of solidarity resulting in government concession to the workers demands . on 17 july the detained workers were released and the minimum wage was increased by one rupee . despite the improvement in wage strikes continued throughout the year . company drivers protested for improved working conditions in september and in october workers in mesaieed held protests calling for housing reforms . 7 in august 1952 a coalition of workers presented their demands to ahmad al thani the son of emir ali al thani . their demands centered on improved working conditions less foreigners in high ranking positions and increased wages . ahmad rejected these demands causing the workers to present their grievances to the british . 7 protests became associated with other elements in the mid 1950s mainly pan arabism anti colonialism and discontent with the ruling family . this was in part due to qatari workers being influenced by arab nationalists employed from countries such as iraq and yemen . 7 a major worker strike took place in 1955 and the emir used a riot squad to suppress discontent . 6 one of the largest protests took place in 1956 ; it drew 2 000 participants most of whom were high ranking qataris allied with arab nationalists and dissatisfied oil workers . 8 in response the government included a clause in worker contracts which banned political activity . 6 in 1957 a dispute between the company and ahmad al thani arose after he ordered an additional oil refinery to be constructed at the company s cost . 9 the government established a labor department in 1959 . 6 in 1963 a labor group called the national unity front was established with one of its primary demands being more rights for qatari oil workers . 10 nationalization of oil sector edit in 1973 the state acquired a 25 percent stake in onshore concessions of qpc and offshore concessions of scq . as part of the agreement the government stake would increase by 5 percent every year until it reached 51 percent in 1981 . however in early 1974 the initial agreement was repealed after qpc agreed to a new agreement which would allow the state to increase its share in both companies to 60 percent . 11 in december 1974 the government officially announced its intent to acquire scq s and qpc s remaining shares . 12 a government decree passed in 1975 declared government ownership of the remaining shares . negotiations throughout the following years resulted in the government assuming full ownership of qpc s onshore concessions in september 1976 and the scq s offshore activities in february 1977 thus fully nationalizing the oil sector . 13 in 1991 qatar petroleum initiated an upgrade program for oil production facilities . the program included bringing the diyab structure dukhan online and enhanced oil recovery eor particularly at the dukhan field . qp expects to boost capacity at dukhan from 335 000 bbl d 53 300 m3 d in 2006 to 350 000 bbl d 56 000 m3 d in 2008 . qp is carrying out similar work at several smaller fields including the offshore bul hanine and maydam mahzam . prospects for new discoveries are limited . qp carried out much exploration activity during the early 1980s but exploration declined as the oil glut of the mid 1980s gathered pace . since then qp has encouraged foreign operators to apply for exploration licenses . although the number of wells drilled grew significantly towards the end of the 1980s there was little success . most new exploration and production e & p is done offshore by international oil companies including exxonmobil chevron and total . while substantial e & p is underway there have not been any major oil discoveries in qatar during the last decade . most anticipated new oil production will come from maersk oil denmark which operates the al shaheen field . maersk reached an agreement with qatar petroleum in december 2005 under which the company intends to drill more than 160 production and water injection wells and establish three offshore platforms . the total oil production from al shaheen is planned to be gradually increased from 240 000 bbl d 38 000 m3 d at the beginning of 2006 to 300 000 bbl d 48 000 m3 d by the end of 2009 . 14 when completed qatar would have more than 1 100 000 bbl d 170 000 m3 d in crude production capacity . pipelines exports and refineries edit qp operates qatar s oil pipeline network which transports supplies from oil fields to the country s lone refinery and export terminals . qp operates an expansive offshore pipeline network that brings crude oil from offshore oil fields to halul island where oil can be processed for export . onshore most oil is sent to umm said for refining or export . qatar has three primary export terminals umm said halul island and ras laffan . qatar typically exports around 600 000 bbl d 95 000 m3 d of crude and about 20 000 bbl d 3 200 m3 d of refined petroleum products . most exports go to asia with japan as the single largest receiver about 380 000 bbl d 60 000 m3 d of crude in 2006 . in the international market the major customers are emirates national oil co. enoc glencore bakri trading vitol mitsui and itochu . refining is carried out by two refineries qp refinery in umm said and laffan refinery in ras laffan . 15 besides qatar petroleum has two joint ventures with south african sasol orix gtl and anglo dutch shell pearl gtl which are producing synthetic petroleum products gtl naphtha gtl diesel from natural gas using gas to liquids technology . qatar s first refinery was built in umm said in 1953 . the first revamp of the refinery was completed in 1974 . by the early 1980s growth in local consumption was such that qatar began importing refined products . in 1983 a 50 000 bbl d 7 900 m3 d refinery came online at umm said . currently umm said refinery has a refining capacity of 137 000 bbl d 21 800 m3 d . laffan refinery rl1 came on stream in september 2009 . the refinery has a processing capacity of 146 000 barrels per stream day bpsd and utilizes the field condensate produced at south pars north dome gas condensate field . after the revamp of the refinery is completed rl2 it will have the processing capacity of 292 000 bbl d. 16 marketing and commercial aspects for the export of the refined products are entirely controlled by the marketing directorate of qatar petroleum tasweeq . 17 dolphin project edit main article dolphin gas project qatar petroleum is part of the dolphin gas project which connects the natural gas networks of oman the united arab emirates and qatar with the first cross border natural gas pipeline in the persian gulf region . the project is being developed by dolphin energy a consortium owned by mubadala development on behalf of the abu dhabi government 51 percent total 24.5 percent and occidental petroleum 24.5 percent . the dolphin project made significant progress in 2006 . construction was completed on all the project s upstream and downstream components by year end except the gas processing plant located at ras laffan . a company spokesperson announced in march 2007 that it tested receiving and distribution facilities in the uae and expected to begin operations in june 2007 . the 260 mile 420 km long dolphin energy pipeline currently sends 400 mmcfd of natural gas supplies from the north field to markets in the uae and oman . 18 gas to liquids edit see also pearl gtl gtl projects received significant attention in qatar the last several years and qatar s government originally set a target of developing 400 000 bbl d 64 000 m3 d of capacity by 2012 . however cancellations and delays substantially lowered this . in february 2007 exxonmobil canceled its palm gtl project which was slated to produce 154 000 bbl d 24 500 m3 d . the company will instead develop the barzan gas project scheduled to supply 1.5 bcf d by 2012 . the oryx gtl plant is a joint venture of qp