French Total Expects No Impact on Oil Cooperation With Qatar Amid Diplomatic Row

France's oil and gas company Total does not expect the crisis in Qatar to affect bilateral cooperation with Doha on the oil field development, Total’s President of Exploration and Production Arnaud Breuillac told Sputnik.

ISTANBUL (Sputnik) — On Tuesday, state-owned Qatar Petroleum and the French energy giant formally launched the North Oil Company (NOC), a 25-year joint venture to develop the Al Shaheen oil field. The launch of the joint venture comes against the backdrop of the Qatari crisis, as several countries severed their diplomatic ties with the country over accusations of supporting terrorism.

"We expect no impact. We are very committed to our portion in Qatar. As you know, within days we are going to be starting the takeover of the transferral of operation to NOC, the new company we have. Everything is fine," Breuillac said on the sidelines of the World Petroleum Congress in Istanbul.

In June, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates broke off diplomatic relations and communication with Qatar, with several other countries following suite. In late June, the four Arab states demanded from Doha to severe relations with Iran, close Turkey’s military base in Qatar and shut down the Al Jazeera TV channel, as well as to end support for the Muslim Brotherhood, a terrorist organization banned in Russia.

Qatar denied all allegations and refused to comply with the demands laid forth in the ultimatum of the Arab states.