Total selected for 2nd phase of Qatari LNG expansion

TotalEnergies has been selected as the first international partner for the second phase of Qatar's 48mn t/yr LNG expansion.

The company said it will hold a 9.375pc stake in the North Field South (NFS) project, out of 25pc available for international partners. State-owned QatarEnergy (QE) will hold the remaining 75pc interest. Other partners in the NFS project have not been announced yet.

NFS will comprise two 8mn t/yr trains and is the second stage of Qatar's plan to increase its LNG capacity to 126mn t/yr by 2028 from around 77mn t/yr now. The first stage — the North Field East (NFE) project — will add 32mn t/yr by 2025. Earlier this year QE selected five international partners, including TotalEnergies, to take part in the NFE project.

"QatarEnergy is moving forward, to help meet growing global demand for cleaner energy, of which LNG is the backbone for a serious and realistic energy transition," said Qatari energy minister and head of QE Saad bin Sherida Al-Kaabi.

Qatar's capacity expansion comes at a time when Europe is scrambling to secure more LNG supply to help reduce reliance on Russian gas. But Qatar is yet to commit directly to providing any additional supply to Europe.

By Ieva Paldaviciute