On April 12, 2023, Sinopec and Qatar Energy signed a shareholding agreement for the Northern Gas Field Expansion Project (NFE) in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

The project is currently the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) project. According to the agreement, Qatar Energy Company will transfer 1.25% of the shares of the Northern Gas Field Capacity Expansion Project to Sinopec. Integrated cooperation has been realized on the capacity expansion project.

The signing ceremony was held at the headquarters of Qatar Energy Corporation. Ma Yongsheng, Chairman of Sinopec, and Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs of Qatar and President and CEO of Qatar Energy Corporation, signed the agreement on behalf of both parties.

Ma Yongsheng said that Qatar Energy is the world's leading LNG producer and one of the most important partners of Sinopec. The cooperation with Qatar Energy will help to further optimize China's energy consumption structure and improve the security of clean energy supply , stability and reliability. It is hoped that the two sides will continue to explore new LNG cooperation on the basis of the existing good cooperation, further expand the cooperation field, and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.

Al Sadd LNG carrier from Qatar

Al-Kaabi said that China is one of the most important natural gas markets in the world, and it is also a key market for Qatar's energy products. The signing of the contract fulfilled the commitment of Ka Energy, which is to further deepen the relationship with major LNG customers, especially to give priority to developing long-term strategic partnerships with world-class customers represented by Sinopec. Sinopec becomes the first Asian shareholder of the project, which will be another model of bilateral cooperation between China and Qatar.

Northern Gas Field Capacity Expansion Project

The northern gas field expansion project is currently the world's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, with a total investment of 28.75 billion US dollars, which will increase Qatar's annual LNG export capacity from the current 77 million tons to 110 million tons.

Previously, in March 2021, Sinopec and Qatar Petroleum Company (renamed Qatar Energy Company) signed a long-term LNG purchase and sale agreement of 2 million tons per year for a period of 10 years. From January 2022, Qatar Petroleum will supply Sinopec with 2 million tons of LNG per year. This is the first time in history that Sinopec has established cooperation with Qatar Petroleum, which is of great significance.

On November 21, 2022, Sinopec and Qatar Energy Company signed a 27-year long-term purchase and sale agreement for liquefied natural gas (LNG). Qatar Energy will supply 4 million tons of LNG to Sinopec every year.Editor/Ma Xue