QatarEnergy announced a 27-year natural gas supply deal with China on Monday, calling it the \u201clongest\u201d ever seen as it strengthened ties with Asia while Europe scrambles for alternative sources.
\nThe state energy company will send four million tonnes of liquefied natural gas annually from its new North Field East project to China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), it said.
\nThe deal \u201cmarks the longest gas supply agreement in the history of the LNG industry\u201d, said Saad Sherida al-Kaabi, Qatar\u2019s energy minister and QatarEnergy\u2019s chief executive.
\nAsian countries led by China, Japan and South Korea are the main market for Qatar\u2019s gas, which is increasingly being sought by European countries since Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.
\nNegotiations with European countries have struggled as Germany and others baulked at signing the type of long-term deals made with Asian nations.
\nNorth Field is at the centre of Qatar\u2019s expansion of its liquefied natural gas production by more than 60 percent to 126 million tonnes a year by 2027.
\n\u201cQatarEnergy has a lot of LNG to market… but they\u2019re very confident about demand,\u201d Ben Cahill, a senior fellow at the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies think-tank, told AFP.
\n\u201cAnd in this market, with buyers worried about energy security and trying to lock up volumes from mid-decade on, there\u2019s no need for QatarEnergy to settle for anything but long-term contracts.\u201d China is the first country to seal a deal for North Field East.
\nThe Chinese company\u2019s chairman revealed it had also requested a full share of the North Field South project that is dominated by Western energy giants.
\nThe accord would \u201cfurther solidify the excellent bilateral relations between the People\u2019s Republic of China and the State of Qatar and help meet China\u2019s growing energy needs\u201d, Kaabi said.
\nSinopec chairman Ma Yongsheng, who took part in a virtual signing ceremony from Beijing, said it was a \u201cmilestone\u201d accord as \u201cQatar is the world\u2019s largest LNG supplier and China is the world\u2019s largest LNG importer\u201d.
\nHe told the ceremony that he had \u201cformally\u201d requested in October last year a share of Qatar\u2019s North Field South project. TotalEnergies of France, Shell of Britain and US giant ConocoPhillips will share the 25 percent foreign stake in the field.
\n\u201cThank you for taking it into serious consideration,\u201d Ma told Kaabi at the ceremony, adding that Sinopec wanted to explore other potential deals with QatarEnergy.\u00ad<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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