Qatar signed the longest gas supply contract with China

Qatarʼs state oil company QatarEnergy has signed a 27-year contract to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the Chinese company Sinopec. The amount of deliveries is 4 million tons of gas per year.

This is stated on the QatarEnergy website.

After Russiaʼs invasion of Ukraine in February, competition for LNG intensified. In particular, Europe needed to replace Russian pipeline gas, which previously accounted for almost 40% of the continentʼs imports.

"This day is an important milestone for the first purchase and sale agreement for the North Field East project, which is 4 million tons per year for 27 years for the Chinese company Sinopec," the head of the QatarEnergy Saad al-Kaabi noted in an interview with Reuters in Doha, shortly before the signing of the agreement.

This is the first long-term contract for the North Field East project, which involves expanding production at the worldʼs largest North Field in the Persian Gulf, which Qatar shares with Iran.

• Earlier, QatarEnergy announced plans to build six additional lines at the North field, which would increase Qatarʼs liquefaction capacity to 126 million tons per year by 2027 from the current 77 million tons.
• Qatar is the worldʼs largest supplier of liquefied natural gas, while China is its largest importer. In 2022, Qatar supplied about a fifth of Chinaʼs LNG demand.