Energy. TotalEnergies is selected by Qatar to develop the largest natural gas field in the world

This project will help to ease Europe's fears about energy.

Energy. TotalEnergies is selected by Qatar to develop the largest natural gas field in the world

This project will help to ease Europe's fears about energy. Qatar has announced that TotalEnergies, the French hydrocarbon giant TotalEnergies, is its first foreign partner in developing the largest natural gas field anywhere in the world.

"I am happy to announce that TotalEnergies has been selected as the first partner for the North Field East project (NFE)," Saad Sherida Al Kaabi, Qatari Energy Minister, said at a Doha press conference. . As part of a joint venture, the French oil and gas company will own 6.25% of the project. This is according to TotalEnergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne.

Minister Al-Kaabi said that other agreements would be announced in the "near future". According to industry sources, ConocoPhilips, Shell, and Exxon Mobil are all interested in expanding the project, which Qatar originally wanted to finance by itself. According to QE, the stake of foreign oil- and gas giants will be around 25%. The project is estimated to cost more that $28 billion and increase production more than 60% by 2027. QE's Qatari energy minister said that production would begin in 2026, and expansion was on track.

Along with Australia and the United States, Qatar is the largest producer of liquefied natural gases (LNG). European leaders have been frantically searching for alternatives to Russian gas in the Gulf Emirate in recent months. This has occurred amid war in Ukraine which has given new life to LNG projects.

Saturday saw Tanzania sign a framework agreement, with Equinor and Shell, to fund a $30 billion project. This will allow for an investment decision in 2025, and operations in 2029-2030.