QatarEnergy breaks ground on North Field expansion project

QatarEnergy has held the ground-breaking ceremony for its giant North Field expansion project, the Qatari NOC announced on Tuesday.

H.H. the Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani laid the foundation stone at the event at Ras Laffan Industrial City.

QatarEnergy is currently developing two expansion phases at the field with investments of more than USD 50 billion.

The project aims to raise Qatar’s LNG production capacity from 77 million tonnes per year to 126 million tonnes per year.

“On the local level, this project will have short- and long-term impacts that will be reflected across all sectors of the Qatari economy and will significantly enhance the state’s revenues,” said Saad Sherida Al Kaabi, Minister of State for Energy Affairs.

“This major expansion comes at a crucial time, as natural gas occupies a pivotal position in the energy mix in a world facing geopolitical turbulence and is in dire need of clean energy sources that are in line with the global environmental goals.”

In July 2023, McDermott International signed an EPCI contract for the project at a cost of between USD 750 million and USD 1.5 billion, one of a slew of contracts signed between the US engineering entity and Qatar’s NOC for the project.

Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs recently said the country is on the path to take on 40% of global LNG output by 2029.

Qatar’s North Field is located in the northeast of the country’s peninsula. It is the world’s largest gas field and contains around 10% of the globe’s known gas reserves.