When I heard Qatar beat out the U.S. (and others) for the 2022 Soccer World Cup my first thought was of all that Qatari LNG out there and how the U.S. is looking to export its own (yeah, I’m boring like that).
My second thought was of Matt Smith, an energy analyst at Summit Energy who is also known as The Energy Burrito. Surely he must have some thoughts on the nexus of energy and soccer?
Indeed, he does. He shares his tongue-in-cheek ideas with us below:
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In a bigger shock than the cash-for-votes scandal (which happened, err, last week), FIFA – the world governing body for soccer – has announced that Qatar has won the bid to host the 2022 World Cup. The Persian Gulf state beat stiff competition from the likes of Australia, Japan, South Korea, and the U.S. to host the world’s most prestigious quadrennial (every four years, I looked it up) soccer tournament.
Bringing this back to energy (all roads lead there anyway, right?), this decision marks a major shift in power (no pun intended), as even FIFA now sees Qatar as one of the major forces in global energy.
Not only is Qatar a member of OPEC (stalwarts since 1961), producing just under a million barrels of crude oil a day, they hold the world’s third largest natural gas reserves, and are the largest exporter of LNG. They shift over 7 Bcf of LNG abroad each day, which is approximately 11% of US demand.
When put like this, it is clear that FIFA has been swayed by the country’s energy prowess, outshining Australia and their coal supplies, and the vast quantities of shale gas in the U.S.
The decision must be related to energy and the shift in the pendulum of power; otherwise it would be difficult to justify choosing a country whose total population is 75% that of Houston, and whose land mass could fit into Texas over sixty times.
I’ll leave you with some choice words from the always excellent Bill Simmons from ESPN, who aptly stated today (via Twitter):
Any time you can hold a World Cup in a hot Middle East country that’s smaller than Connecticut and has no soccer tradition, you have to do it.
2022, Doha - see you there!
