By any standards, the state of Qatar is small. With a population barely over 800,000 and a land area (11,430 square kilometers) roughly three times smaller than Belgium, this barren, sandy peninsula jutting out like a raised thumb into the Persian Gulf, north of Saudi Arabia, would still be hidden in the shadows of anonymity if it were not for its immense hydrocarbon reserves. Despite its reduced size and ungrateful topography, Qatar is currently making a big splash due to a combination of easily accessible gas reservoirs and visionary leadership. This young nation is rubbing shoulders with the big boys of the hydrocarbon world and this has bought a taste for ambition.