Qatar Petroleum said Tuesday it would become the sole owner of Qatargas 1, a joint venture operating the first three liquefaction trains in the Ras Laffan complex.
The state-owned LNG giant said it would not renew the Qatargas Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (QG1) joint venture upon the expiry of the relevant agreements on December 31, 2021.
As a result, QP would become the owner of 100 percent of the QG1 assets and facilities on January 1, 2022, it said.
Established in 1984, QG1 is a joint venture between Qatar Petroleum and units of Total, ExxonMobil, Marubeni and Mitsui.
The first three trains each have a capacity of 3.3 million tonnes per year. QP’s unit Qatargas will continue to operate QG1 facilities.
“QG1 was the pioneering LNG project to be developed in Qatar, whose success has paved the way for the development of Qatar’s LNG industry, leading to where it stands today,” QP said.
“Momentous event”
Qatar’s energy minister and chief executive of QP, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, said the takeover would conclude more than 25 years of “successful” operations of QG1.
“This is a momentous event that highlights QP’s efforts to further enhance the utilization of our natural resources for the benefit of our country and its current and future generations as well as to continue serving the world’s need for cleaner energy,” he said.
“I would like to thank our valued partners, Total, ExxonMobil, Marubeni and Mitsui for their efforts in the development and operation of QG1 over the past three decades,” Al-Kaabi said.
“Thanks, and appreciation are also due to Chubu Electric, QG1’s foundation customer, for their key role in anchoring this project as the primary LNG buyer as well as to the other Japanese buyers and, of course, the country of Japan as a whole,” he said.
QP’s unit Qatargas currently operates in total fourteen LNG trains at Ras Laffan.
Moreover, this new announcement comes just weeks after QP’s final investment decision and the contract awards for its giant LNG expansion project.
Under the North Field East project, QP will build four “mega trains” with a capacity of 8 million tonnes per year in the Ras Laffan complex.
This first phase of the expansion project will increase Qatar’s LNG production capacity from 77 to 110 mtpa. QP also plans a second phase to further boost capacity to total 126 mtpa by 2027.
