DOHA —
QatarEnergy announced a 27-year
natural gas supply deal with China Monday, calling it the “longest” ever seen
as it strengthened ties with Asia while Europe scrambles for alternative
sources.
اضافة اعلان
The state energy company will send 4 million tonnes
of liquefied natural gas annually from its new North Field East project to
China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), it said.
The deal “marks
the longest gas supply agreement in the history of the LNG industry”, said Saad
Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s energy minister and QatarEnergy’s chief executive.
Asian countries led by China, Japan and South Korea
are the main market for Qatar’s gas, which is increasingly being sought by
European countries since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Negotiations with
European countries have struggled
as Germany and others baulked at signing the type of long-term deals made with
Asian nations.
North Field is at the center of Qatar’s expansion of
its liquefied natural gas production by more than 60 percent to 126 million
tonnes a year by 2027.
“QatarEnergy has a lot of LNG to market ... but
they’re very confident about demand,” Ben Cahill, a senior fellow at the Washington-based
Center for Strategic and International Studies think-tank, told AFP.
“And in this market, with buyers worried about
energy security and trying to lock up volumes from mid-decade on, there’s no
need for QatarEnergy to settle for anything but long-term contracts.”
China is the first country to seal a deal for North
Field East.
The Chinese company’s chairman revealed it had also
requested a full share of the North Field South project that is dominated by
Western energy giants.
The accord would “further solidify the excellent
bilateral relations between the People’s Republic of China and the State of
Qatar and help meet China’s growing energy needs”, Kaabi said.
Sinopec Chairman Ma Yongsheng, who took part in a
virtual signing ceremony from Beijing, said it was a “milestone” accord as
“Qatar is the world’s largest LNG supplier and China is the world’s largest LNG
importer”.
He told the
ceremony that he had “formally” requested in October last year a share of
Qatar’s North Field South project.
TotalEnergies of France, Shell of Britain
and US giant ConocoPhillips will share the 25 percent foreign stake in the
field.
“Thank you for taking it into serious
consideration,” Ma told Kaabi at the ceremony, adding that Sinopec wanted to
explore other potential deals with QatarEnergy.
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