TotalEnergies and QatarEnergy strengthen ties with 27-year LNG supply deals to bolster France’s energy security

Qatar’s state-owned energy giant QatarEnergy has inked two long-term LNG sale and purchase agreements (SPAs) with TotalEnergies for the supply of up to 3.5 million tons per annum (mtpa) of LNG from Qatar to France. This is expected to fortify the European country’s energy security.

The SPAs – which were signed by Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs and President and CEO of QatarEnergy; and Patrick Pouyanné, Chairman and CEO of TotalEnergies, at a special event held in Doha in the presence of senior executives from both companies – will enable LNG to be delivered ex-ship to the Fos Cavaou LNG receiving terminal in southern France from 2026 for a term of 27 years.

Commenting on this occasion, Al-Kaabi remarked: “These two new agreements we have signed with our partner TotalEnergies, demonstrate our continued commitment to the European markets in general, and to the French market in particular, thus contributing to France’s energy security. The State of Qatar has been supplying the French market with LNG since 2009, and the new agreements reflect the joint effort of two trusted partners, QatarEnergy and TotalEnergies, to provide reliable and credible LNG supply solutions to customers across the globe.”

According to Qatar’s energy giant, the LNG volumes will be sourced from the two joint ventures between the two players that hold interests in the Persian Gulf state’s North Field East (NFE) and North Field South (NFS) projects. TotalEnergies’ partnership in the North Field LNG expansion projects is made up of a 6.25% share in the NFE project and a 9.375% share in the NFS project.

“Our commitment to ensure continued and reliable supplies of energy to Europe and the rest of the world is underpinned by our substantial and ongoing investments across the entire gas value chain. We are proud that our new LNG expansion in Qatar is the least carbon-intensive project in the world. Our efforts span from bolstering production capacity in Qatar to the development of the Golden Pass LNG export project in the United States, in addition to our commitments in various LNG receiving terminals in Europe, including the Montoir-de-Bretagne LNG terminal in France,” added Al-Kaabi.

As Qatar intends to boost its LNG production, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Amir of the State of Qatar, laid the foundation stone of the North Field expansion project on Tuesday, October 3, 2023. This will raise the Persian Gulf state’s LNG production capacity from the current 77 mtpa to 126 mtpa by 2026.

QatarEnergy has also been working on expanding its portfolio. To this end, Qatar’s giant is part of a consortium, which won exploration and production rights for block EGY-MED-E8 (East Port Said) offshore Egypt, as part of the 2022 EGAS International Bid Round.