Qatar looks to go even bigger on LNG

The Gulf state takes FID on four more trains but is already looking at going beyond its 126mn t/yr goal

The world’s largest LNG exporter, Qatar Petroleum (QP), took a long-anticipated FID on the first stage of its huge North Field East (NFE) expansion project on Monday. The firm signed an EPC contract with engineering heavyweights France’s Technip and Japan's Chiyoda committing it to four new 8mn t/yr mega-trains at its Ras Laffan liquefaction plant that will lift capacity from 77mn t/yr to 110mn t/yr. But, fresh from announcing that NFE would proceed, the firm opened up the possibility that its planned second phase, the North Field South (NFS) expansion, which will boost capacity by another 16mn t/yr to 126mn t/yr via two more mega-trains, is not the end of its ambitions. “As… appraisal activ