MEOG: First deal signed for Qatar’s North Field South

France’s TotalEnergies was this week named as state-owned QatarEnergy’s first international partner for the upcoming southern expansion project at its key North Field gas asset.

North Field South (NFS) will comprise two LNG trains with a combined capacity of 16mn tonnes per year, taking the tiny peninsular nation’s overall export capacity to 126mn tpy by 2027.

A deal was signed by Qatari Energy Minister and President and CEO of QatarEnergy HE Saad bin Sherida Al Kaabi and TotalEnergies’ CEO Patrick Pouyanne in Doha that will give the French firm a net participating interest of 9.375% in NFS, out of the total 25% available to IOCs. QatarEnergy will hold the remainder.

Al-Kaabi said: “QatarEnergy is moving forward, to help meet growing global demand for cleaner energy, of which LNG is the backbone for a serious and realistic energy transition. We are committing significant investments to lower the carbon intensity of our energy products, which constitutes a key pillar of QatarEnergy’s sustainability and energy transition strategy.”