Qatar needs buyers for two-thirds of the supply from its liquefied natural gas expansion projects, as it leverages growing fears over energy security to nail down more long-term deals.
The Middle East gas giant has signed two super-long contracts over the past year with partners TotalEnergies SE and China’s Sinopec. But other shareholders in the two-field expansion — including Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Eni SpA — have yet to announce volumes, with LNG deliveries starting from 2026.
The decades-long deals preferred by Qatar — which vies with the US as the world’s top LNG supplier — have become more attractive after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine upended energy markets and prompted European nations to prioritize security of supply over green targets. The 27-year contract announced last week by TotalEnergies means that France will continue using the fossil fuel beyond 2050.
“There is still a hell lot to sell, but there is progress,” said Anne-Sophie Corbeau, a researcher at the Center on Global Energy Policy at New York’s Columbia University.
Qatar is expected to increase its LNG-producing capacity by 64% to 126 million tons a year by 2027. Gas price volatility is burnishing the appeal of that output, although some buyers prefer the more flexible delivery terms of LNG from the US, which played a crucial role in filling the hole left by Russian pipeline flows in Europe last winter.
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