CNPC will also take an equity stake that is the equivalent to 5% of one LNG train in the eastern part of Qatar’s multi-billion North Field Expansion project.
Qatar inked a 27-year liquified natural gas (LNG) supply deal with the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) on Tuesday, marking the gas rich country’s second such major deal with China.
Under the major deal, signed at QatarEnergy’s headquarters in Doha, the Gulf state will provide CNPC with 4 million metric tonnes of LNG annually over the span of 27 years.
“Today we are signing two agreements that will further enhance our strong relations with one of the most important gas markets in the world and key market for Qatari energy products,” Saad Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s energy minister and QatarEnergy CEO, said, as quoted by Al Jazeera.
CNPC will also take an equity stake that is the equivalent to 5% of one LNG train in the eastern part of Qatar’s multi-billion North Field Expansion project—the biggest of its kind. The LNG train’s capacity is set to 8 million tonnes per year.
In April, QatarEnergy named China’s Sinopec as its first “value-added partner” for the mega North Field East (NFE) expansion project.
Under the previous agreement, the Chinese company became a shareholder in one of the NFE joint venture companies in the project. Sinopec was granted a 5% stake in one NFE train that holds a capacity of 8 million tonnes per annum of LNG.
The $28.75 billion Qatari project is broken into two parts, the NFE and the North Field South (NFS).
The first is set to ramp up Qatar’s production from 77 to 110 million tonnes per annum as the NFS will increase the production capacity from 110 to 126 million tonnes per annum.
Last year, QatarEnergy announced eight international partnership agreements for both phases of the projects, set to kick start in 2026 and 2027.
During the same year, QatarEnergy agreed to provide China’s Sinopec with an annual amount of four million tonnes of LNG over the span of 27 years. This also represented the longest deal ever signed by QatarEnergy and in the industry’s history.
Notably, China is among the largest LNG buyers in the world, though Japan dominated the place of the top buyer of the gas last year.
Last year, China’s LNG imports from Qatar spiked by 75% from 2021, amounting to 15.7 million tonnes of gas. The figure, shared by Chinese customs, amounts to a quarter of China’s total imports.
