Qatar’s two largest liquified natural gas (LNG) producers will merge into one company over the next 12 months to cut costs, officials have announced.

Qatar Petroleum’s RasGas and Qatargas will now be joined into a single entity called QatarGas, QP’s CEO said today.

No immediate job cuts are expected, but may occur once the new structure is in place, Saad Al Kaabi clarified, according to Reuters.

Speaking to reporters at a news conference this morning, the official added that the move would save “hundreds of millions of dollars” and increase competitiveness in the market.

In a statement, he added that “the integration aims to create a truly unique global energy operator in terms of size, service and reliability.”

‘Right-sizing’

Falling global oil prices have caused many of Qatar’s energy companies to slash budgets and headcounts in recent years.

Since November 2014, QP has laid off an estimated 3,000 staffers, and its subsidiary RasGas has also cut hundreds of jobs.

Plans for a corporate restructure are understood to have begun before global oil prices took a tumble.

However, as the world’s largest producer and exporter of liquified natural gas (LNG), Qatar has felt the impact of the dip. Speaking about the layoffs last year, Al Kaabi said:

“While we have no control over markets and prices, we do have control over our costs and expenditure. This will be a stable organization going forward.”

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