File photo/NBD

On April 12th, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) and Qatar Energy signed an investment agreement on the North Field East (NFE) expansion project in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

According to the agreement, Qatar Energy will transfer 1.25% stake in the project to Sinopec.

The achievement of the heavyweight cooperation means that Sinopec has become the first Asian shareholder of the project and marks another milestone after the two parties signed the LNG long-term contract for the North Field expansion project in November 2022.

In November last year, Sinopec and Qatar Energy signed a 27-year LNG long-term purchase and sales agreement, under which Qatar Energy would supply 4 million tons of LNG to Sinopec every year.

Qatar ranks third in the world in terms of natural gas reserves, second only to Russia and Iran. The North Field East expansion project in which Sinopec has a stake is currently the largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in the world. Almost all of Qatar's natural gas production and about 60% of its exports come from this gas field.  

With a total investment of US$28.75 billion (approximately 197.872 billion yuan), the project is expected to be put into production in 2026. After the project is put into production, it can increase Qatar's annual LNG export capacity from the current 77 million tons to 110 million tons.

Ma Yongsheng, Chairman of Sinopec, said that Qatar Energy is the world-leading LNG producer and one of Sinopec's most important partners. The cooperation with Qatar Energy will help further optimize China's energy consumption structure and improve the security, stability and reliability of clean energy supply.