His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar, laid the foundation stone of the North Field Expansion project, set to raise the LNG production capacity of Qatar from the current 77 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) to 126 MTPA by 2026.
The project’s groundbreaking took place during a special ceremony at Ras Laffan Industrial City led by the Minister of State for Energy Affairs and QatarEnergy President and CEO HE Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi and the CEOs and senior executives of QatarEnergy’s partners in the expansion project.
The project includes six mega trains, each with a production capacity of eight MTPA of LNG, four of which are part of the North Field East expansion project, and two are part of the North Field South expansion project, contributing a total of 48 MTPA to the global LNG supplies.
Quantum leap
Speaking during the groundbreaking, HE Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi stressed that the pioneering expansion project is a quantum leap in the country’s leadership in the field of energy and an embodiment of the country’s goals towards optimal investment in natural resources and commitment to providing the world with a cleaner source of energy over many decades.
He said that on the local level, this project will have short- and long-term impacts that will be reflected across all sectors of the Qatari economy and will significantly enhance the State’s revenues.
This major expansion comes at a crucial time, as natural gas occupies a pivotal position in the energy mix in a world facing geopolitical turbulences and is in dire need of clean energy sources that are in line with global environmental goals.
HE Minister Al-Kaabi concluded his remarks by thanking the partners of QatarEnergy, the working teams of Qatar Energy and QatarEnergy LNG, and the contractors working to implement the project with the highest quality and safety standards.
The minister also extended ample thanks and gratitude to His Highness the Amir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, for his presence and patronage of the celebration, and for his unlimited support and guidance of the Energy Sector.
Best LNG in the world
QatarEnergy has partnered with TotalEnergies, Shell, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Eni, Sinopec, and CNPC, in this project. The contributions of all their partners will play a pivotal role in ensuring the project’s success and achieving its goals of producing LNG that is the best in the world in terms of safety, reliability and carbon footprint.
In addition to LNG, the project will produce 6,500 tonnes per day of ethane gas, which will be used as a feedstock in the local petrochemical industries. The project will also produce about 200,000 barrels per day of liquefied petroleum gas (propane and butane), and about 450,000 barrels per day of condensates, in addition to large quantities of helium and pure sulfur.
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