QatarEnergy, a state-owned petroleum company, has selected Eni, an Italian multinational oil and gas company, as a second partner in the North Field East (NFE) expansion project, the single largest project in the history of the LNG industry.
Earlier this month, the French petroleum company TotalEnergies was selected as QatarEnergy’s first international partner in the $28.75 billion NFE Project, which will expand Qatar’s LNG production capacity from the current 77 million tons per annum (MTPA) to 110 MTPA.
The partnership agreement was signed in a special ceremony at QatarEnergy’s headquarters in Doha by HE Saad Sherida Al Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, and Mr. Claudio Descalzi, the CEO of Eni, in the presence of senior executives from both companies.
According to the agreement, both entities will form a new joint venture (JV) company in which QatarEnergy will own a 75 percent stake and Eni will own the remaining 25 percent. The JV will in turn own 12.5 percent of the entire NFE project, whose 4 mega LNG trains have a combined nameplate capacity of 32 MTPA.
Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi Qatar Minister of State for Energy Affairs CEO – QatarEnergy
“I would like to welcome Eni as a new member of Qatar’s LNG family. This agreement will strengthen our mutual cooperation for decades to come. It is an important addition to a series of partnerships with Eni, which include upstream exploration projects in a number of locations around the world as QatarEnergy expands its international footprint. I would like to thank His Highness the Amir of State of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani for His wise leadership and his unwavering support to Qatar’s energy sector.”
Mr. Descalzi said that “We are honored and delighted for having been selected as a partner in the North Field East expansion project. As a newcomer joining this world-leading LNG project, we feel the privilege and the responsibility of being a strategic partner of choice for the State of Qatar. This agreement is a significant milestone for Eni and fits our objective to diversify into cleaner and more reliable energy sources in line with our decarbonization strategy. Eni looks forward to working with QatarEnergy on this project to positively contribute to increasing worldwide gas security of supply.”
