Last night was a surprise. In the first round of Group C of the Qatar World Cup group match, the Argentina team led by Messi lost 1:2 to the Saudi Arabian team. I believe many fans are very angry. Of course, the Saudi team is also really unexpected. According to reports, in order to celebrate the victory, Saudi Arabia has a day off today for employees and students of all public and private companies. Even the Saudi Exchange made an exception for a day off.
Qatar, as the host of this World Cup, recently, with the World Cup in full swing, such an "unknown" country in the world has also begun to come into people's sight. The first point is to find that it is so "trench". Qatar spent 229 billion US dollars to build the World Cup at a sky-high price, which is 5 times the sum of the cost of all previous World Cups. set up". The second point is that Qatar's football is indeed a bit "dish", and it was severely abused at the beginning. First, Qatar lost 0:2 to Ecuador, becoming the first host to lose in the opening match of the World Cup since its establishment 92 years ago. Countless local tyrants in the Middle East were ridiculed all night as "rich but unhappy", and some netizens made the prince of Qatar into an emoji.
The "tyrant" country "adds" new members
If you use one word to describe Qatar, it is "small but rich". In terms of area, the entire land of Qatar is 11,521km², which is not as large as Beijing. The total population is only 265w, which is equivalent to 12% of Beijing's permanent population. In addition, in terms of income, Qatar's per capita GDP will exceed 60,000 US dollars in 2021, which is really rich.
What is Qatar's secret to getting rich?
How does Qatar make money in such a small place? The answer is oil and gas. To know the world's three major energy sources, coal, oil, and natural gas, Qatar accounts for two. Qatar is located on the southwestern coast of the Persian Gulf, adjacent to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, facing Kuwait across the Persian Gulf to the north, and facing Iraq far away. It has a typical tropical desert climate. Although the desert terrain does not sound very good, there is a saying that "God has closed a door for you, and will definitely open another window for you". Qatar has been greatly favored in terms of resources. This country with a total area of only 11,500 square kilometers is rich in oil and natural gas, and it can be regarded as a low-key energy "big" country. In terms of oil, what many people don't know is that Qatar used to be a member of OPEC, but it withdrew in 2019, and its oil resources are not bad. According to statistics, Qatar's proven oil reserves rank thirteenth in the world. Moreover, the output is relatively strong. In 2021, Qatar's daily crude oil production will be 1.75 million barrels per day, accounting for 2% of the global daily production and ranking 14th in the world.
In addition, Qatar is even more powerful in natural gas. At present, the proven natural gas reserves rank third in the world, second only to Russia and Iran, and it is also the world's largest producer and exporter of liquefied natural gas. In 2021, Qatar's LNG exports will be 107 billion cubic meters, accounting for 20.7% of global exports, not far behind Australia. The main export destinations are South Korea, India, China, Japan and other Asia-Pacific countries. This year, due to the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Qatar apparently became the EU's largest LNG importer. On November 21, Qatar Energy Company and Sinopec signed a 27-year long-term purchase and sales agreement for liquefied natural gas (LNG). Qatar will supply 4 million tons of LNG to China every year.
According to relevant statistics, Qatar's oil and natural gas revenue accounts for more than 80% of the government's total revenue, equivalent to about 24% of the GDP, and the dividends it brings have also ensured that the per capita GDP has exceeded 60,000 US dollars for many years. Soaring energy revenues have pushed Qatar's budget surplus up 12-fold to 47.3 billion riyals in the first half of 2022.
"-220 billion" vs "+17 billion" Is this World Cup worth it?
Qatar spent more than 220 billion U.S. dollars to hold the most "tremendous" World Cup in history, but according to Qatar's estimates, the revenue of this World Cup is about 17 billion U.S. dollars. Is this World Cup worth it? In the long run, Qatar's wave is worthwhile. Foreign media are promoting how "expensive" this World Cup is, but if the infrastructure is deducted, the cartel's investment in this World Cup is more than 10 billion, which is comparable to that of Russia. Therefore, most of the more than 100 billion yuan investment was spent on infrastructure. For example, the Lusail New City built by Qatar to prepare for the World Cup was first used as the main venue for the World Cup, and then used to carry economic development and attract technology and talents. Create a business community, send Qatar's "business card" to countries all over the world, and use both "soft and hard" to find more long-term partners for its main oil and natural gas, and to enhance the overall economic strength. In the final analysis, it is to take the opportunity of the World Cup to upgrade the entire country. Under the popularity of the World Cup, Qatar has earned enough heat, and with heat, there will be opportunities.
