1938

• Petroleum Development strikes the country’s first oil at Dukhan 1

1971

• Qatar’s North field is discovered, with reserves estimated at 900 trillion cubic feet
  

1974

• State’s first national oil company, Qatar General Petroleum Corporation, assumes total control of the country’s oil industry
  

1997

• Qatar exports its first LNG to Japan’s Chubu Electric
  

2001

• Qatar General Petroleum is renamed Qatar Petroleum

2005

• QP places three-year moratorium on development in the North field, which is extended to 2010

• QP announces the creation of Qatar Petroleum International

2007

• March, QPI signs a memorandum of understanding with Petrochina to build an ethylene plant in China, scheduled to start up in 2013

• April, QPI is selected by state oil company Entreprise Tunisienne d’Activites Petrolieres to build a 140,000-barrel-a-day refinery in Tunisia worth an estimated $3bn

• May, QPI signs a memorandum of understanding with Occidental Petroleum for a $7bn, 350,000-barrel-a-day refinery in Panama

• 7 June, QPI signs a memorandum of understanding with the Shell Group aimed at identifying and developing “international projects of mutual interest”

• 11 December, QPI signs a memorandum of understanding with ConocoPhillips to develop international energy projects

2008

• 14 January, QPI signs a partnership agreement with Gaz de France covering international co-operation on both upstream and downstream activities

• 8 April, QPI buys a 20 per cent stake in Taoudenni permits Ta7 and Ta8 in Mauritania from France’s Total, its first overseas investment

• 20 April, QPI signs memorandum of understanding with Eni to seek joint investment in international oil and gas ventures

• 24 April, Gazprom announces it is considering joint investment projects in the energy sector with Qatar Petroleum (QP)