Total Qatar: Resounding research in energy
Inside Investor asks Stéphane Michel, Managing Director of Total Qatar, the Qatari affiliate of the French oil and gas major, how research initiatives and industry developments are taking the company to the World Cup 2022 and beyond.
Q: Why did you decide to join Total Qatar?
A: The formation of Total Qatar was an opportunity that was given to us by the State of Qatar, and I took it because it allowed me to participate in an environment to work closely with some of the best companies in the world. Secondly, there was a void open for a company to start compiling a database of research in Qatar, and we saw that.
Q: In the past few years, has the company made any notable developments in the industry?
As a partner of Qatargas, Total is very proud to have participated to the impressive development of the LNG industry in Qatar. We were also involved in Dolphin, the first gas export project between three GCC countries, Qatofin and the Ras Laffan Olefin Cracker, the biggest of its kind in the world and the Laffan Refinery 1. All those projects have dramatically changed the face of Qatar and reinforced its leading position in the world. Last but not least, we have invested as well in research with the Total Research Center in Qatar (TRCQ).
Q: Apart from your research centre, what other activities are you involved in?
A: We help providing Qataris who work with us or with Qatar Petroleum various educational opportunities abroad. We are for example sponsoring four or five Qatar Petroleum employees to attend Master of Science of MBA in France every year. In addition, we support and bring in top education entities from France to Qatar. We were very instrumental in bringing HEC Paris, one of the first EMBA programmes, into the country. We also sponsor sports, as partners of the Qatar Tennis Federation for the Women’s Tennis Association tournament here, the Qatar Total Open. As we do with Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club for the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris or the Emiri Sword Race in Doha.
Q: What plans do you have moving forward, taking into consideration the education level required for Qatar to reach its 2030 goals?
A: Keep going with what we are doing: bringing the best to Qatar in Education, Research and obviously our core business Oil and Gas so that the country can have the financial resources and the local expertise to build on his talented young generation and further diversify his economy in a sustainable way.
Q: What are you doing in Qatar to promote renewable energy?
A: We have the most efficient standardisation methods in the world and we are working towards goals at a pace set by the State of Qatar. We are doing a lot of research into this field and, depending on the strategy that Qatar wants to apply, we will prioritise this kind of research in the years to come. However, it should be noted that we ultimately have the choice to set the themes of our research.
Q: Where would you like to see Total Qatar in five years from now?
A: We just signed a renewal contract for all of our off-shore energy operations. The idea is to continue to be a good operator and to launch a new phase of development that extends teamwork and research.
[caption id="attachment_8417" align="alignleft" width="166"] Stéphane Michel, Managing Director of Total Qatar[/caption] Inside Investor asks Stéphane Michel, Managing Director of Total Qatar, the Qatari affiliate of the French oil and gas major, how research initiatives and industry developments are taking the company to the World Cup 2022 and beyond. Q: Why did you decide to join Total Qatar? A: The formation of Total Qatar was an opportunity that was given to us by the State of Qatar, and I took it because it allowed me to participate in an environment to work closely with some of the best companies in the...
Inside Investor asks Stéphane Michel, Managing Director of Total Qatar, the Qatari affiliate of the French oil and gas major, how research initiatives and industry developments are taking the company to the World Cup 2022 and beyond.
Q: Why did you decide to join Total Qatar?
A: The formation of Total Qatar was an opportunity that was given to us by the State of Qatar, and I took it because it allowed me to participate in an environment to work closely with some of the best companies in the world. Secondly, there was a void open for a company to start compiling a database of research in Qatar, and we saw that.
Q: In the past few years, has the company made any notable developments in the industry?
As a partner of Qatargas, Total is very proud to have participated to the impressive development of the LNG industry in Qatar. We were also involved in Dolphin, the first gas export project between three GCC countries, Qatofin and the Ras Laffan Olefin Cracker, the biggest of its kind in the world and the Laffan Refinery 1. All those projects have dramatically changed the face of Qatar and reinforced its leading position in the world. Last but not least, we have invested as well in research with the Total Research Center in Qatar (TRCQ).
Q: Apart from your research centre, what other activities are you involved in?
A: We help providing Qataris who work with us or with Qatar Petroleum various educational opportunities abroad. We are for example sponsoring four or five Qatar Petroleum employees to attend Master of Science of MBA in France every year. In addition, we support and bring in top education entities from France to Qatar. We were very instrumental in bringing HEC Paris, one of the first EMBA programmes, into the country. We also sponsor sports, as partners of the Qatar Tennis Federation for the Women’s Tennis Association tournament here, the Qatar Total Open. As we do with Qatar Racing and Equestrian Club for the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris or the Emiri Sword Race in Doha.
Q: What plans do you have moving forward, taking into consideration the education level required for Qatar to reach its 2030 goals?
A: Keep going with what we are doing: bringing the best to Qatar in Education, Research and obviously our core business Oil and Gas so that the country can have the financial resources and the local expertise to build on his talented young generation and further diversify his economy in a sustainable way.
Q: What are you doing in Qatar to promote renewable energy?
A: We have the most efficient standardisation methods in the world and we are working towards goals at a pace set by the State of Qatar. We are doing a lot of research into this field and, depending on the strategy that Qatar wants to apply, we will prioritise this kind of research in the years to come. However, it should be noted that we ultimately have the choice to set the themes of our research.
Q: Where would you like to see Total Qatar in five years from now?
A: We just signed a renewal contract for all of our off-shore energy operations. The idea is to continue to be a good operator and to launch a new phase of development that extends teamwork and research.
