Qatar has secured its second major liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply deal to China in less than a year. China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and QatarEnergy have signed a 27-year deal to supply four million tonnes of LNG annually. Qatar is the world’s largest LNG exporter.
Gaining a stake in the Qatari project
CNPC will also take an equity stake in Qatar’s North Field East LNG expansion project. The stake is equivalent to five percent of one LNG train with a capacity of eight million tonnes per year.
“Today we are signing two agreements that will strengthen our strong relationship with one of the world’s most important gas markets and a key market for Qatar’s energy products,” QatarEnergy chief Saad Kaabi said in a statement.
Asia ahead of Europe
Asia is keen on long-term LNG contracts and has overtaken Europe in securing supplies from Qatar’s two-phase production expansion plan. The plan will see Qatar’s liquefaction capacity rise to 126 million tonnes a year by 2027 from 77 million tonnes now.
Today’s agreement is QatarEnergy’s third LNG supply deal from the planned expansion project to Asia. Kaabi added that it is also negotiating equity stakes in the expansion with other Asian buyers.
Source Czech Press Office
