Qatar, the world’s top liquefied natural gas (LNG) exporter, has landed its second major supply deal with China in less than a year.
The state-controlled QatarEnergy and China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) have signed an agreement under which China will buy 4m metric tonnes of LNG annually from the Gulf Arab state over 27 years.
The gas for CNPC will come from the North Field expansion project expected to boost Qatar’s LNG production capacity from 77m tons per year to 126m tons per year by 2027. The plan is backed by a massive LNG carrier shipbuilding program in China and South Korea where recently the steel cutting of the first of its new generation of chartered vessels took place.
Under the deal, CNPC will also get a stake in North Field East expansion, the first and larger of the two-phase North Field expansion plan equivalent to 5% of one LNG train with a capacity of 8m tons a year.
A similar deal was struck with China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) in November when the Chinese gas giant also signed up for 4m tons of LNG over 27 years and a 5% stake in one LNG train of 8m tones a year capacity.
