"Qatar Petroleum" - the largest supplier of liquefied natural gas in the world - today, Monday, signed a contract for the first phase of its project to expand the North Field, which will raise the country's production of liquefied natural gas to 110 million tons annually by 2026.

Qatar Petroleum announced the final investment decision in the LNG production expansion project from the eastern sector of the North Field, which is the largest LNG project in the world, as it will raise Qatar’s production capacity of LNG from 77 million tons annually to 110 million tons.

The project will also produce large quantities of condensate, liquefied petroleum gas, ethane, sulfur and helium.

Production is expected to start before the end of 2025 and total production to reach about 1.4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.

The announcement of this decision came during the signing ceremony of the main engineering, procurement and construction contract for the project's onshore facilities, between Qatar Petroleum and an alliance that includes Chiyoda and Technip, where the contract was signed by Eng. Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs, Managing Director and CEO Qatar Petroleum, Chairman and CEO of Chiyoda Corporation, Kawzuchi Okawa, and President of Technip Energy, Arno Beaton, in the presence of a number of senior officials from Qatar Petroleum, Qatargas, Chiyoda and Technip.

The contract covers the construction of 4 giant LNG production lines with a capacity of 8 million tons per year each, in addition to gas processing facilities, natural gas liquids recovery, and helium extraction and refining facilities in Ras Laffan Industrial City.

As these evaluation activities continue, Qatar Petroleum is assessing a further increase in LNG production capacity in excess of 126 million tons per year (Reuters)

Milestone

"Signing this contract represents a milestone in Qatar Petroleum's journey in sustainable strategic growth," Al Kaabi said. "The total cost of the expansion project reaches about 105 billion Qatari riyals (about $ 28.7 billion), which makes it one of the largest investments in the energy industry over the past few years, in addition to To be the largest and most competitive LNG project ever.

He added that this vital project will contribute to strengthening the national economy of the State of Qatar with huge financial returns over decades, and construction work and other activities related to the implementation of the project will have a great impact on stimulating economic activity in various local sectors.

Al-Kaabi explained that this event carries special importance because it comes at a time when the world is suffering from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and its negative consequences on the world's economies, to confirm the firm commitment of the State of Qatar to provide the world with the clean energy it needs.

The minister said, "This decision is of great importance because the investment contains a number of environmental components that support our strong commitment to achieving the highest environmental standards and providing reliable solutions in the transition to low-carbon energy. The carbon dioxide collection and injection system is one of the most important environmental elements of the project." It forms part of our integrated carbon dioxide capture and injection facility at Ras Laffan, which upon full operation will become the largest of its kind in the LNG industry and one of the largest facilities of its kind ever developed anywhere in the world. ”

Qatar Petroleum begins construction of the largest liquefied natural gas project in the world, with huge facilities to collect and inject carbon dioxide # Qatar Petroleum # Qatar https://t.co/4TMJkv6ykt pic.twitter.com/63xnv5i8Iu

Qatar Petroleum (@qatarpetroleum) February 8, 2021

Other advantages

In addition to the CO2 collection and injection facilities, the project will include a number of positive and unique environmental benefits, including:

  • Providing a large part of the project’s electrical energy needs from the national power grid in Qatar, as Qatar Petroleum seeks to secure these needs from the Al-Kharsaa solar power plant project (currently under construction) with a capacity of 800 megawatts, in addition to about 800 other megawatts from the plant. Solar energy, which Qatar Petroleum will soon construct as part of its portfolio of solar energy projects that aims to reach more than 4,000 megawatts before 2030.

  • The project contains a system to recover the gas evaporated during shipment, which will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately one million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually.

  • The project will save 10.7 million cubic meters of water annually through recycling and reuse of 75 industrial wastewater.

  • NOx emissions will be reduced by 40% through the application of improved Dry Low NOx technology.

The LNG production expansion project from the eastern sector of the North Field is considered the first phase of the planned expansion of LNG production in the State of Qatar, while the LNG production expansion project from the southern sector of the North Field represents the second phase, which will raise production capacity. For liquefied natural gas in the State of Qatar from 110 million tons annually to 126 million tons annually.

Production from the Southern Sector project is expected to start in 2027, as the project will include the construction of two additional giant production lines (each with a capacity of 8 million tons per year) in addition to the marine and onshore facilities associated with them.

The Southern Sector North Field Project was initiated following the successful onshore evaluation activities of Qatar Petroleum in the North Field, and aims to develop and produce gas from the southern sector of the North Field.

As these evaluation activities continue, Qatar Petroleum is assessing a further increase in LNG production capacity in excess of 126 million tons per year.