QatarEnergy to Double Annual Urea Production 

QatarEnergy CEO Saad Al-Kaabi speaks at the press conference on Sunday. (QatarEnergy)
QatarEnergy CEO Saad Al-Kaabi speaks at the press conference on Sunday. (QatarEnergy)
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QatarEnergy to Double Annual Urea Production 

QatarEnergy CEO Saad Al-Kaabi speaks at the press conference on Sunday. (QatarEnergy)
QatarEnergy CEO Saad Al-Kaabi speaks at the press conference on Sunday. (QatarEnergy)

State-owned QatarEnergy will boost its production of urea to more than 12.4 million tons annually from 6 million tons currently, its CEO said in a press conference on Sunday, without giving a timeframe.

Saad Al-Kaabi, also Qatar's minister of state for energy affairs, said the construction of four new production lines for urea, a key ingredient in fertilizers, would boost output by 106%. He said the first production line would begin before 2030.

"When we looked at the market for urea in the future, with the growth of humanity today, with 1.5 to 2 billion people that will be joining us in the next 20-30 years, the urea requirement for food production will be exponentially increasing," Kaabi said.

He also said construction on a project to expand gas production from the North Field was on schedule.

The massive expansion is set to boost QatarEnergy's overall liquefied natural gas (LNG) production by 85% over current levels. North Field is part of the world's largest natural gas field that Qatar shares with Iran, which calls it South Pars.

Kaabi also announced construction of a third new solar power station in Qatar's eastern Dukhan region to more than double Qatar's overall solar energy production to 4,000 megawatts by 2030.



Iran's Currency Falls to Record Low against the Dollar as Tensions Run High

A man counts Iranian rials at a currency exchange shop in Basra, Iraq. (Reuters file photo)
A man counts Iranian rials at a currency exchange shop in Basra, Iraq. (Reuters file photo)
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Iran's Currency Falls to Record Low against the Dollar as Tensions Run High

A man counts Iranian rials at a currency exchange shop in Basra, Iraq. (Reuters file photo)
A man counts Iranian rials at a currency exchange shop in Basra, Iraq. (Reuters file photo)

Iran’s rial currency traded Saturday at a record low against the US dollar as the country returned to work after a long holiday.

The rial had plunged to over 1 million rials during the Persian New Year, Nowruz, as currency shops closed and only informal trading took place on the streets, creating additional pressure on the market, Reuters reported.

But as traders resumed work Saturday, the rate fell even further to 1,043,000 to the dollar, signaling the new low appeared here to stay.

On Ferdowsi Street in Iran’s capital, Tehran, the heart of the country’s money exchanges, some traders even switched off their electronic signs showing the going rate as uncertainty loomed over how much further the rial could drop.