Qatar’s national oil company Qatar Petroleum (QP) has announced completing the merger of its gas producing subsidiaries Qatargas and RasGas into a single company.

The integration of the two companies will help QP save an estimated $550m (QR2bn) annually in operation costs, the state-owned company’s chief executive Saad Sherida al-Kaabi has been quoted as stating in media reports.

The combined company, called Qatargas, started operations on January 1. Before the merger, Qatargas and RasGas were already the world’s two biggest LNG producers. RasGas held no assets but oversaw and managed all LNG operations in the country.

The combined company, the plan to create which was announced in December 2016, will manage all of the Gulf state’s 77 million tonnes of gas production capacity annually, sold through a mix of joint venture agreements with IOCs including Exxon Mobil and Shell.