QatarEnergy (QE) has struck a deal to supply LNG to ConocoPhillips, for delivery to Germany into the 2030s.
Conoco signed two agreements, covering supplies from the North Field East (NFE) and North Field South (NFS) expansion projects. Qatar will provide 2 million tonnes per year. This is the second offtake agreement for volumes from the NFE project.
Conoco has a 3.125% stake in NFE and 6.25% in NFS. These will start producing in 2026 and 2027 respectively.
China’s Sinopec also signed up to buy LNG from the NFE project last week. It agreed to buy 4 million tonnes per year of LNG from QE for 27 years.
The contracts will run for at least 15 years, QE CEO and president Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi said.
“These agreements are momentous for several reasons,” he said. They contribute to “Germany’s long-term energy security. They also represent the culmination of efforts between two trusted partners, QatarEnergy and ConocoPhillips, over many years, to provide reliable and credible LNG supply solutions to customers across the globe, and today, to German end-consumers.”
Conoco will receive the LNG delivered ex ship (DES) at the German LNG terminal, under development in Brunsbüttel.
“Germany is the largest gas market in Europe, with significant demand in the industrial, power, and household sectors, and we are committed to contribute to the energy security of Germany and Europe at large,” Al-Kaabi continued.
European supply
In comments reported by Reuters, the QE official said the company is also in talks with other German companies on additional offtake deals.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has made a number of visits to the Middle East, and Qatar, in a bid to strengthen his country’s energy security. Last week, Scholz said German companies were in talks on buying Qatari LNG, but did not provide further information.
Conoco CEO and chairman Ryan Lance welcomed the opportunity to supply the world with LNG from the Qatari expansion projects. “These agreements will provide an attractive LNG offtake solution for our new joint ventures with QatarEnergy and position the joint ventures as reliable sources of LNG supply into Europe,” he said.
Conoco has signed up to be a foundation customer at the German LNG terminal. This will have throughput of 8 billion cubic metres per year and is due to be operational in 2026.
Conoco signed up to a 20-year LNG contract last week with Sempra Infrastructure. The offtaker agreed to take 5mn tpy of LNG from a proposed project in Texas. US LNG supplies are free of destination clauses, allowing buyers to deliver them anywhere in the world.