Fact check: Investments of oil majors in nations involved in Qatar row

The West's three biggest energy corporations are lobbying Qatar to take part in a huge expansion of its gas production, handing Doha an unintended but timely boost in its bitter dispute with Gulf Arab neighbours.

ExxonMobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Total already have large investments in countries on both sides of the dispute and are keen not to take sides after Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt severed ties with Doha on June 5.

Here are some facts about international oil companies which operate in the Gulf countries involved in the rift:

EXXONMOBIL

Qatar

The US oil major's relationship with Qatar goes back to 1935 when it was known as Socony-Vacuum, and later Mobil.

It helped to develop the North Field, the world's biggest gas field, and supplied Qatar with technology to make it the top competitor in the LNG market.

Qatar's LNG production is divided between two companies, Qatargas and Rasgas. State oil company Qatar Petroleum (QP) owns a majority stake in both.

RasGas is 70 per cent-owned by QP and 30 per cent-owned by ExxonMobil, while Qatargas is owned by a consortium including QP, ExxonMobil, Total, Mitsui, Marubeni, ConocoPhillips and Royal Dutch Shell.

ExxonMobil is also the only foreign participant in two domestic gas projects, Al-Khaleej Gas and Barzan Gas.
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