QatarEnergy transferring 5% of its stake in NFE to China’s Sinopec

Qatar’s state-owned oil and gas company QatarEnergy has signed a definitive partnership agreement with China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) for the North Field East (NFE) expansion project.

With this deal, Sinopec becomes the first Aisan shareholder in one of the NFE joint venture companies that own the NFE project.

Pursuant to the agreement, QatarEnergy will transfer to Sinopec a 5% interest in the equivalent of one NFE train with a capacity of 8 million tons per annum (mtpa). This agreement will not affect the participating interests of any of the other shareholders, the company noted.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, said: “The People’s Republic of China is a major driver of the global energy markets as well as being one of the most important gas markets in the world and is a key market for Qatari energy products. Today’s event underscores QatarEnergy’s commitment to deepening its relationships with key LNG consumers, while prioritizing long-term strategic partnerships and alignment with world class partners from China, represented by Sinopec here today.” 

Ma Yongsheng, the Chairman of Sinopec, added that this agreement is another milestone after the signing of the long-term LNG sale and purchase agreement from the NFE project in November 2022, marking the integrated cooperation achieved by both companies on the NFE project.

QatarEnergy underlined that this agreement is also the first of its kind after last year’s series of partnership announcements in the $28.75 billion NFE project, which will raise Qatar’s LNG export capacity from the current 77 mtpa to 110 mtpa.