It’s a $28 billion handshake for Italian energy giant Eni. Qatar announced on Sunday that it had chosen this company as the second foreign partner, after the French TotalEnergies, for the development of the largest natural gas field in the world.
“I am pleased today (…) to announce that Eni has been chosen as a partner in this unique strategic project” in the world, said the Qatari Minister of Energy and CEO of Qatar Energy (QE), Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, during a press conference in Doha.
Towards a third signature
As part of a joint venture with the Qatari hydrocarbon giant, Eni is taking a stake of just over 3% in the North Field East (NFE) project, worth more than 28 billion dollars and which aims to increase the Gulf country’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) production by 60% by 2027. The share of TotalEnergies, whose agreement until 2054 with QE was announced on June 12, will be the largest at 6, 25%, according to its CEO Patrick Pouyanné. The French company’s most important agreement with Qatar helps to compensate for its withdrawal from Russia following the war in Ukraine.
A third signature is to be announced at a press conference on Monday, following discussions that began in 2019. The participation of foreign companies is expected to be around 25%. The North Field East (NFE) project, where production is due to start in 2026, involves the expansion of the offshore North Field, the world’s largest natural gas field that Qatar shares with Iran.
One of the most important reserves in the world
The North Field accounts for about 10% of the world’s known natural gas reserves, according to QE. It extends under the sea into Iranian territory, where efforts by the Islamic Republic to exploit their part of this deposit are hampered by international sanctions.
Qatar is one of the main producers of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the world, with the United States and Australia, and “the cheapest source of supply at the moment”, specifies Daniel Toleman, analyst for Wood Mackenzie.
In the wake of the conflict in Ukraine, LNG importers are racing to secure alternatives to Russian gas. Eni announced on Friday that Gazprom would deliver only 50% of the gas requested by the Italian energy giant.