The state-backed Shanghai Petroleum and Natural Gas Exchange announced on Tuesday that a liquefied natural gas terminal in eastern China - operated by state-owned oil and gas giant Sinopec Corp. - received its first shipment from Qatar.

The stock exchange said in its official account on the Chinese "WeChat" social networking site that the shipment, with a volume of 205 thousand cubic meters, began unloading at the Qingdao station in Shandong Province on the third of this April, which is the first supply of Qatari gas to the province in eastern China.

This shipment of gas is part of a 10-year supply contract signed by Sinopec with Qatar Energy (formerly Qatar Petroleum) in March last year for an annual supply of two million tons, or 2.8 billion cubic meters, starting this year.

Sinopec is expanding the Qingdao plant in an effort to double its annual capacity to 14 million tons by the end of 2023.

The company's liquefied gas terminal in Tianjin, near Beijing, received the first shipment of Qatari gas last January under the same agreement.

Strategic partner in the field of energy

A day after Qatar Energy Company signed an agreement with Sinopec in March last year, Engineer Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs, Managing Director and CEO of the company, said, "We are pleased and proud to sign this historic sale and purchase agreement, which marks the beginning of a long-term partnership with Qatar Energy Company. Sinopec".

He added, "This long-term agreement is the first for Sinopec to purchase LNG from Qatar. Our partnership in the field of LNG with China dates back to 2009, when we began supplying it through a set of similar agreements with a number of our esteemed Chinese partners."

China is a major and strategic partner for the State of Qatar in the field of energy through its various components, especially liquefied natural gas.

Qatar seeks to raise its production of liquefied gas to 126 million tons annually by 2027, compared to 77 million tons currently.

 These are some of the agreements signed by Qatar Energy with a number of Chinese companies, according to what was reported by the Qatar Energy Company website:

  • September 29, 2021: Qatar Energy signs a long-term agreement to supply 3.5 million tons per year of liquefied natural gas to the China National Offshore Oil Corporation for a period of 15 years.

  • October 3, 2021: Qatar Energy begins orders for LNG tankers for North Field expansion projects, from Hudong-Jonghua Shipbuilding Group Limited (Hudong), wholly owned by China State Shipbuilding Corporation Limited.

  • December 6, 2021: Qatar Energy signs a long-term agreement to supply liquefied natural gas to China's Guangdong Energy Group.

  • December 8, 2021: Qatar Energy signs a long-term agreement to supply liquefied natural gas to China's S&T Corporation.