QatarEnergy signs deal with TotalEnergies for North Field East project

QatarEnergy signs deal with TotalEnergies for North Field East project

Saad al-Kaabi, who is also Qatar's minister of state for energy, said the selection process for partners has been finalised and subsequent signings could be announced as soon as next week.

No company will have a stake higher than TotalEnergies , he added. TotalEnergies Chief Executive Patrick Pouyanne said the company will have 25% of one train - or liquefaction and purification facility - in the project.

The North Field Expansion plan includes six LNG trains that will ramp up Qatar’s liquefaction capacity from 77 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) to 126 mtpa by 2027.

Oil majors have been bidding for four trains of the North Field East expansion, with the other two trains part of a second phase, North Field South.

Kaabi said Qatar has a unified approach, where all four trains are considered one unit. TotalEnergies' 25% stake in one virtual train gives it around 6.25% of the whole four trains.

"We had announced that we are no longer investing in any new project in Russia, so the signing of this project in Qatar is important for us," said Pouyanne.

Kaabi said once the investments have been completed, Asian buyers are expected to make up half the market for the project, and buyers in