Sources in the global oil industry have disclosed that ExxonMobil, Total Energies SE, and Royal Dutch Shell are among the top investors eyed to come aboard Qatar’s mega liquefied natural gas (LNG) expansion project.
Qatar Energy’s North Field expansion project is expected to boost the country’s LNG output by some 64% by 2017, bolstering its position as the world’s top LNG exporter and help to lock a long-term supply of gas to Europe.
Qatar Petroleum signed biggest long-term LNG contract with CNOOC | OilNOW
According to Reuters, Qatar Energy had decided to make a final investment decision alone to develop the US$30 billion North Field expansion project but opened a bid to seek partners to share the financial risk of the development.
Several other firms including ConocoPhillips bid to be part of the expansion.
A formal announcement is expected by the end of June.
The expansion project is aimed at increasing the LNG production capacity of the North gas field from 77 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) to 100Mtpa.
Exxon wants to be go-to partner for NOCs – Woods | OilNOW
The expansion project was announced in April 2017, after Qatar lifted its self-imposed 12-year ban to refrain from any further gas development plans and decided to monetise the remaining reserves of the gas field.
The North gas field is located 80 kilometers (km) off the coast of the Qatar peninsula. Discovered in 1971, the field is considered to be the world’s third-biggest, holding more than 900 trillion standard cubic feet (tscf) of gas in reserves.
The gas field is spread over 6,000km² and is being developed by leveraging the infrastructure of existing projects such as Qatargas phases 1-4, Ras Laffan phases 1-3, and Al Khaleej gas projects.
The offshore field expansion is expected to have a production capacity of one million barrels of oil-equivalent a day, while the onshore processing facility is estimated to produce approximately 32Mtpa of LNG.
