QatarEnergy Plans to Buy 2-3 Million Tons per Year of U.S. LNG Through 2031

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 11, QatarEnergy is in talks with several U.S. liquefied natural gas producers for multi-year purchase agreements, planning to procure approximately 2 million to 3 million tons per year of LNG through its QatarEnergy Trading unit, with supply arrangements potentially lasting through 2031. Potential negotiating partners include Venture Global, Cheniere Energy, and Woodside Energy, and no contracts have yet been signed.

In March of this year, 2 of the 14 LNG production trains at Qatar's Ras Laffan facility and one gas-to-liquids facility were damaged. QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi previously said the damage knocked out approximately 12.8 million tons per year of LNG production capacity, and repairs are expected to take 3 to 5 years.

QatarEnergy subsequently supplemented supply by purchasing U.S. spot LNG, which was also used to fulfill some contracts with Asian customers. QatarEnergy Trading currently manages a trading portfolio of approximately 10 million tons of LNG, and the planned procurement volume represents 20% to 30% of its existing trading portfolio.

U.S. LNG projects under construction currently have approximately 25 million tons per year of future capacity that has not yet been contracted under long-term sales agreements. Among them, Venture Global has approximately 10 million tons per year of uncontracted capacity, Cheniere Energy and Woodside Energy each have approximately 6 million tons per year, and Sempra's Port Arthur LNG project has another approximately 3 million tons per year available for sale.

Approximately 80% of Qatar's LNG is typically sold to Asian markets. After the production facility damage in March, QatarEnergy extended force majeure notices on some supply contracts, with the most recent extension running through November.