Qatar on Monday announced a 27-year liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply deal with China, saying it was “the longest term” the industry has ever seen, amid the global fuel crisis. energy caused by the war in Ukraine
This announcement comes as several Europe seeks to turn to alternatives to Russian hydrocarbons, without having reached such an agreement with the rich Gulf gas emirate.
State-owned Qatar Energy will export four million tons of LNG annually from its new North Field project to Sinopec (China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation), Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Minister of Energy, told a press conference. ‘Qatar Energy.
This is the agreement “of the longest duration in the history of the LNG industry”, welcomed the official, who is also managing director of Qatar Energy.
North Field is at the center of Qatar’s strategy to increase its LNG production by more than 60%, to reach 126 million tonnes per year by 2027.
Asia, led by China, Japan and South Korea, is the main market for gas from Qatar, which has been increasingly courted by European countries since the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
But negotiations with the Europeans have been difficult, with Germany and other countries refusing to sign the kind of long-term agreements that Qatar has reached with Asian countries.