While new energy projects are shrinking worldwide due to lower demand with the circumstances of the spread of the Corona virus, the government company “Qatar Petroleum” took a final investment decision in early 2021 regarding the project to expand liquefied gas production from the eastern sector of the North Field, which is the largest free gas field in the world.
Qatar relies on gas production from the North Field to build the LNG project in the world. According to the state’s plan, LNG production capacities will be increased from 77 million tons annually now to 110 million by the end of 2025, and then increased in the second phase to 126 million tons in 2027.
The project will also produce large quantities of condensate, LPG, ethane, sulfur and helium. It is expected that production of the project will start before the end of 2025 and that its total production will reach about 1.4 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Qatar is also making large foreign investments in plants to re-convert liquefied gas to its gas form in countries, most notably Belgium, France and the United Kingdom.
The decision to expand the project was announced during the signing ceremony of the main engineering, procurement and construction contract for the project’s onshore facilities, between Qatar Petroleum and a consortium includes Chiyoda and Technip companies.
The contract covers the construction of four giant LNG production lines with a capacity of 8 million tons per year each, in addition to gas processing facilities, natural gas liquids recovery, and helium extraction and refining facilities in Ras Laffan Industrial City.
HE Eng. Saad Al Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the CEO of Qatar Petroleum says that the signing of this contract represents a milestone in the sustainable strategic growth path of the State of Qatar. The total cost of the expansion project is about 105 billion Qatari riyals ($ 28.4 billion), which makes it one of the largest energy industry investments in the world, in addition to being the largest and most competitive LNG project ever.