Crude ties

15 March 2012 By Una Galani Follow @ugalani

After eyeing European aerospace and defence firm EADS, Qatar has snapped up a $2.6 bln stake in French oil major Total. That is a poor diversification of the Gulf state’s hydrocarbon wealth. But it might be an effective way for Qatar to shore up influence with its gas customers.

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Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund has built up a 2 percent stake in France’s oil major Total since last summer, according to a report in Les Echos on March 13.
The stake is now worth more than 2 billion euros, the paper wrote without citing its sources.
The oil-rich state of Qatar is now among Total’s top shareholders, after the company’s employees, and Belgian investor Albert Frere.
Qatar’s stake is approximately the same size as the one held by China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange, which bought into Total’s shares in 2008, according to the paper.

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