State-run QatarEnergy has signed two 15-year sale and purchase deals with the US energy giant ConocoPhillips to export two million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per annum to Germany starting in 2026, the Qatari giant said in a statement Tuesday.
Germany is the largest gas market in Europe, with significant demand in the industrial, power, and household sectors. Deliveries are expected to start in 2026 at the "German LNG" receiving terminal, which is currently being built in Brunsbüttel, the northern part of the country. A ConocoPhillips wholly-owned subsidiary will acquire the agreed amounts to be delivered ex-ship to the terminal, QatarEnergy added.
Robert Habeck, Germany's Economic Minister, stated that he was happy with the deal. "Fifteen years is great," Habeck told a business conference in Berlin, according to Reuters. "I wouldn't have had anything against 20 (years) or longer contracts."
The two joint ventures between QatarEnergy and ConocoPhillips, which have interests in Qatar's North Field East (NFE) and North Field South (NFS) projects, will supply the LNG volumes.
Earlier this year, QatarEnergy signed agreements for North Field East (NFE), which is expected to increase the LNG production capacity of Qatar to 110 million tons per annum (Mtpa) from 77 Mtpa. The second phase, known as North Field South (NFS), is projected to further boost the capacity of Qatar to 126 Mtpa by 2027.
"[These agreements] mark the first ever long-term LNG supply to Germany with a supply period that extends for at least 15 years, thus contributing to Germany’s long-term energy security," President and CEO of QatarEnergy Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi said, adding that Qatar is committed to the energy security of Germany and Europe at large.
ConocoPhillips has a 3.13% stake in the NFE project and a 6.25% share in the NFS project, both of which are expected to commence in 2026 and 2027, respectively, as part of its partnership in the North Field LNG Expansion Projects.
"The agreements we are about to sign today are a further manifestation of this commitment, which is reinforced through the sizeable investments we have made and continue to make along the entire gas value chain encompassing production capacity increases in Qatar and the Golden Pass LNG export project in the United States," Al-Kaabi said.
