QatarEnergy (QE) has chosen Shell as its second partner on the North Field South (NFS) expansion project.
Shell will have a 9.375% stake in the two trains, which will have capacity of 16 million tonnes per year. NFS will provide the second step for Qatari LNG growth after North Field East (NFE), bringing total production to 126mn tpy.
QE has a 75% stake in the NFS plan. TotalEnergies took a 9.375% stake in NFS in September. This leaves 6.25% still to be awarded, with QE saying this would go to a single company, as yet unnamed.
“The new LNG volumes, which Qatar will bring to the market, come at a time when natural gas assumes greater importance in light of recent geopolitical turmoil, and amidst the dire need for cleaner energy to meet global environmental objectives,” said Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, also president and CEO of QE.
“These volumes are a welcome addition given the increasing global concern not just over energy security, but also over a pragmatic energy transition as well as fair and equitable access to cleaner energy.”
Al-Kaabi signed the deal on October 23 in Doha, with Shell’s outgoing CEO Ben van Beurden. The minister said van Beurden had played a “distinguished role” in partnering with QE.
NFS will involve five platforms, 50 wells and various gas pipelines to an onshore processing plant. The project will benefit from sharing infrastructure with NFE, helping bring down costs.
The project will involve carbon capture and storage (CCS), while power will come from the national grid.