Strong oil prices allied with higher gas exports to boost Qatar’s nominal GDP by nearly 28.4% in the Q1 of 2011 while real GDP expanded by around 16%.

The Qatari Statistics Authority said that from about QAR 110.4 billion in the Q1 of 2010, GDP in current prices swelled to nearly QAR 141.8 billion in the Q1 of 2011. Compared with the Q4 of 2010, GDP grew by around 12.2% from QAR 126.4 billion.

A breakdown showed the hydrocarbon sector rocketed by nearly 44.2% to QAR 81.1 billion from QAR 56.2 billion. The sharp increase in value was a result of the combined effect of higher volume of oil and gas production and higher prices.

The manufacturing sector widened by 19.7% to QAR 14.1 billion while nominal growth stood at 20.1% in the transport sector and about 10.4% in the finance, insurance, real estate and business services. As for 2010, the report put real GDP growth at about 16% while in current prices it shot up by 30.1% to QAR 463.49 billion.

Qatar, the top LNG supplier has recorded one of the highest GDP growth rates in the world over the past few years because of a rapid rise in gas exports. In a report last week, the Abu Dhabi based Arab Monetary Fund said the country’s real GDP could leap by nearly 20% this year because of high LNG exports and a sharp rise in oil prices.

Qatar’s real GDP is projected to surge by around 20 per cent this year against growth of 16.3% in 2010 as a result of high oil prices and expansion in its LNG exports and infrastructure projects.

A small OPEC crude oil producer, Qatar announced in late 2010 that it had completed projects to pump nearly 77 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas to become the world’s dominant LNG exporter.

The country has pumped over USD 100 billion into projects to tap its mammoth North Field, which spreads over 6,000 square kilometers across the Qatari and Iranian water and is considered the world’s largest single reservoir of non associated gas with reserves of nearly 25 trillion cubic metres.

(Sourced from Emirates Business 24/7)