QatarEnergy, Sinopec partner on largest LNG projects in industry history
(WO) – QatarEnergy has announced the signing of a definitive partnership agreement with China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) for the North Field East (NFE) expansion project, the largest project in the history of the LNG industry.
Sinopec becomes shareholder in NFE joint venture
The agreement marks the entry of Sinopec as a shareholder in one of the NFE joint venture companies that own the NFE project, one of the most critical projects in the global LNG industry. QatarEnergy will transfer to Sinopec a 5% interest in the equivalent of one NFE train with a capacity of 8 million tons per annum (MTPA).
Noting the November 2022 agreement to supply Sinopec with 4 MTPA of LNG from the NFE project, His Excellency Minister Al-Kaabi said, “That agreement was not only the first NFE LNG supply agreement to be announced, but also the longest LNG supply agreement in the history of the industry. Today, Sinopec will join Qatar’s LNG family becoming the first Asian shareholder in the NFE project.”
On his part, Dr. Ma Yongsheng, the Chairman of Sinopec, congratulated both parties on signing the NFE project partnership agreement and said, “The meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Qatar’s Amir His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani during the first China-Arab Summit and China-GCC Summit in 2022, comprehensively outlined the development blueprint of the strategic partnership between the two countries and guided the China-Qatar energy cooperation. The signing of this agreement today is a concrete move to carry forward what has been agreed between the two heads of state and deepen the partnership between Sinopec and QatarEnergy. It is another milestone after the signing of the long-term LNG SPA from the NFE project in November 2022, marking the integrated cooperation achieved by both companies on the NFE project.”
China-Qatar energy cooperation deepens with new agreement
Dr. Ma further added that “China-Qatar energy cooperation features a natural complementarity. QatarEnergy is a leading LNG producer in the world and one of the most important partners of Sinopec. The cooperation with QatarEnergy will help Sinopec further optimize China's energy consumption structure and enhance the security, stability, and reliability of clean energy supply. I hope that the two companies will continue to explore new LNG cooperation opportunities based on the solid foundation we have laid together and will further expand cooperation areas to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.”
This agreement is the first of its kind after last year’s series of partnership announcements in the $28.75 billion NFE project, which will raise Qatar’s LNG export capacity from the current 77 MTPA to 110 MTPA.
