Several European nations turned to Doha in an effort to save their fragile energy supply, especially ahead of the cold winter season.
QatarEnergy Trading is set to offtake, transport and trade 70% of liquified natural gas (LNG) produced by Golden Pass LNG in Texas, the United States, under a new agreement.
The Qatari state-owned energy company inked the agreement with ExxonMobil, stipulating that it would “independently offtake and market their respective proportionate equity shares” of LNG in the US project.
“This agreement is an important addition to our efforts to meet demand for cleaner energy and to support the economic and environmental requirements for a practical, equitable and realistic energy transition,” said Saad Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s minister of state for energy.
Golden Pass LNG has the production capacity of at least 18 million tonnes per annum and is set to begin its first production by the end of 2024.
In 2016, affiliates of QatarEnergy and ExxonMobil established joint venture Ocean LNG Limited to offtake and market the production at the Texas gas entity.
“The energy market is highly dynamic and undergoing a period of transformation, and LNG will continue to play a key role in meeting global energy demand and ensuring security of supply,” said Al-Kaabi.
In early 2019, QatarEnergy and Exxonmobil’s affiliates announced the joint liquefaction project of more than $10 billion.
In Doha, QatarEnergy is already working its way to lead global LNG production through its multibillion North Field Expansion project, the largest of its kind on a global scale.
The project is expected to increase Qatar’s LNG production capacity to 126 million tonnes per annum by 2027.
QatarEnergy has already selected its partners for the first phase of the project and named TotalEnergies and Shell as its latest partner companies for the second phase.
“QatarEnergy is the global leader in LNG, the cleanest of all fossil fuels, and it is only natural for us to increase focus on LNG trading and portfolio optimization to deliver innovative LNG solutions that meet the needs of our customers across the globe,” said Al-Kaabi.
Global attention shifted to the Gulf state this year amid gas supply issues in Europe in light of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Several European nations turned to Doha in an effort to salvage their fragile energy supply, especially ahead of the cold winter season.
This is mainly due to heavy reliance on Russian gas, with the region previously receiving 40% of its gas supplies from Moscow. Almost a third of the shipments also passed through Ukraine.
In May, Qatar and Germany agreed to expand their energy cooperation under a declaration that focuses on LNG and hydrogen trade. It also entails creating a Qatari-German working group that will meet regularly to develop trade of LNG and hydrogen.
Speaking to German news outlet at the time, Handelsblatt, Qatar’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said that his country hopes to start sending LNG to Berlin in 2024.
“We want to have our US Golden Pass liquefied natural gas plant in Texas, in which Qatar Energy holds a 70% stake, ready to deliver to Germany as early as 2024,” Sheikh Mohammed told the media outlet.
Speaking to the Shura Council on Tuesday, Qatar’s Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani stressed that the country is doing its best to tackle the energy challenges.
“We are doing our best to contribute to addressing the crisis in global energy shortage in consultation with our partners, and our strategic plans,” said the amir.
