QatarEnergy announced in a statement that it has selected TotalEnergies as its first international partner in the North Field East (NFE) expansion project, the single largest project in the history of the LNG industry.
The announcement comes at the conclusion of a competitive process that started in 2019 to select QatarEnergy’s international partners in the NFE project, which will expand Qatar’s LNG export capacity from the current 77 million tons per annum (MTPA) to 110 MTPA.
The $28.75 billion NFE project, expected to start production before the end of 2025, employs the highest health, safety, and environmental standards, including carbon capture and sequestration, to reduce the project’s overall carbon footprint to the lowest levels possible.
A special ceremony was held at QatarEnergy’s headquarters in Doha to mark the occasion, during which His Excellency Mr. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, and Mr. Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of TotalEnergies, signed the partnership agreements in the presence of senior executives from QatarEnergy and TotalEnergies.
Pursuant to the agreements signed today, QatarEnergy and TotalEnergies will become partners in a new joint venture company (JV), in which QatarEnergy will hold a 75% interest while TotalEnergies will hold the remaining 25% interest.
The JV in turn will own 25% of the entire NFE project, including the 4 mega LNG trains with a combined nameplate LNG capacity of 32 MTPA.
In his remarks during the ceremony, His Excellency Minister Al-Kaabi said: “This is a historic landmark for Qatar’s energy industry and for the world’s largest LNG development. The North Field East project is an iconic achievement that will not only ensure the optimal utilization of Qatar’s natural resources but will also provide the world with the cleaner and more reliable energy it needs. Today, QatarEnergy is standing at the threshold of a new era with a stronger commitment to energy transition and to the safe, reliable, and trustworthy access to cleaner energy. We will continue to power lives in every corner of the world for a better tomorrow for all. This is our commitment.”
