Yvette Burghgraef-van Eechoud, Dutch Ambassador to Qatar chooses to categorise the importance of gas to both these economies by saying, "Natural gas is like the veins of our respective economies and the gas dialogue is very intense between us. Royal Dutch Shell has been present in Qatar for a long time, with its investment in the Pearl Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) project running into more than USD25 billion (QAR91 billion) and is not break-even yet,"