{"id":157368,"date":"2026-07-19T15:44:36","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T22:44:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=157368"},"modified":"2026-07-19T15:44:36","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T22:44:36","slug":"sri-lanka-should-take-a-clue-from-qatar-development-projects-and-invite-the-global-companies-to-establish-head-quarters-to-port-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2026\/07\/19\/sri-lanka-should-take-a-clue-from-qatar-development-projects-and-invite-the-global-companies-to-establish-head-quarters-to-port-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Sri Lanka should take a clue from Qatar development projects and invite the global companies to establish head quarters to port city\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr Sarath Obeysekera\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Qatar\u2019s Energy Hub \u2013 A Model Sri Lanka Can Learn From<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Qatar has deliberately developed an integrated energy ecosystem rather than relying solely on LNG production. Around the giant Ras Laffan Industrial City and the North Field developments, it has attracted engineering companies, technology providers, service contractors, financial institutions, training centres, and research organisations to create one of the world\u2019s leading oil and gas hubs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Key features of Qatar\u2019s model<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

1. Ras Laffan Industrial City<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • One of the world\u2019s largest LNG industrial complexes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Home to LNG liquefaction plants, condensate processing, petrochemical facilities, offshore support bases, and marine terminals.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Supports thousands of engineers, technicians, and specialist contractors.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    2. Regional headquarters for global companies<\/strong>
    Qatar has attracted many international companies to establish regional operations, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • Shell<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • ExxonMobil<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • TotalEnergies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • ConocoPhillips<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Baker Hughes<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • SLB (Schlumberger)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Halliburton<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Technip Energies<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Chiyoda<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • McDermott<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • GE Vernova (formerly GE Oil & Gas)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      These firms provide engineering design, project management, procurement, digital engineering, offshore maintenance, drilling support, and technical services. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      3. Major EPC projects<\/strong>
      Qatar continues to award multi-billion-dollar Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contracts. The Bul Hanine (BH) offshore redevelopment alone involves:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        \n
      • More than 60 offshore facilities<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Around 40 subsea pipelines and cables<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Platform modifications<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • Decommissioning of obsolete structures<\/li>\n\n\n\n
      • A project value of approximately US$4 billion.\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

        4. North Field Expansion<\/strong>
        The North Field Expansion is one of the world\u2019s largest LNG expansion projects and has generated billions of dollars in EPC contracts, engineering work, fabrication, logistics, marine services, and specialist consulting. It has strengthened Qatar\u2019s position as a global LNG leader while creating opportunities for numerous supporting industries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Lessons for Sri Lanka<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

        Rather than promoting only luxury apartments, schools, hospitals, and commercial buildings in Port City, Sri Lanka should position Colombo as a regional Centre of Excellence<\/strong> for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \n
        • Offshore engineering and design<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • EPCM (Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Oil and gas consultancy<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Marine surveying and classification<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Digital engineering and AI<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Procurement and logistics management<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Arbitration and legal services<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Marine insurance and finance<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Offshore renewable energy<\/li>\n\n\n\n
        • Training and certification<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

          These activities require relatively little land but generate high-value foreign exchange earnings and create employment for engineers, naval architects, IT professionals, accountants, lawyers, and project managers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          The opportunity for Colombo<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

          Sri Lanka is strategically located between the Middle East and Southeast Asia. With the appropriate tax regime, labour policies, and a truly empowered one-stop investment approval system, Colombo could attract regional engineering and professional service offices that support projects in Qatar, the UAE, Oman, India, Bangladesh, East Africa, and Southeast Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          This would be far more valuable in the long term than relying mainly on real estate development. A knowledge-based energy services hub could generate sustainable export earnings while positioning Sri Lanka as the Indian Ocean\u2019s engineering and maritime services centre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Regards

          Dr Sarath Obeysekera<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Dr Sarath Obeysekera\u00a0 Qatar\u2019s Energy Hub \u2013 A Model Sri Lanka Can Learn From Qatar has deliberately developed an integrated energy ecosystem rather than relying solely on LNG production. Around the giant Ras Laffan Industrial City and the North Field developments, it has attracted engineering companies, technology providers, service contractors, financial institutions, training centres, and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[116],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dr-sarath-obeysekera"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157368"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":157369,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157368\/revisions\/157369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}