Shell signs up to Qatar project as LNG demand booms

Shell signs up to Qatar project as LNG demand booms

Shell has become the latest international partner in the expansion of the world’s largest liquefied natural gas project in Qatar as global demand for the fuel soars following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Europe’s biggest oil and gas company will take a 6.25 per cent stake in the $29bn project through a joint venture with state-owned QatarEnergy, it said on Tuesday. It did not disclose the financial terms of the deal.

Shell is the fifth international company to join the project in the past four weeks. Controlled by QatarEnergy, North Field East intends to boost the Gulf state’s LNG export capacity from 77mn tonnes to 100mn tonnes by 2026, helping it to overtake Australia as the second-biggest producer of the fuel behind the US.

“This agreement deepens our strategic partnership with QatarEnergy, which includes multiple international partnerships,” said chief executive Ben van Beurden.

Shell joins ExxonMobil, TotalEnergies, Eni and ConocoPhillips in the project, after each signed joint venture agreements since the start of June. Exxon and Total, like Shell, will each own a 6.25 per cent stake through separate joint ventures with QatarEnergy. Eni and ConocoPhillips will hold just over 3 per cent each through similar, smaller agreements.

Demand for LNG is soaring, particularly in Europe,