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ConocoPhillips and Qatar Petroleum to develop large-scale LNG project
Kristen Nelson, Petroleum News editor-in-chief
Qatar Petroleum and ConocoPhillips said July 11 that they have signed an agreement for development of Qatargas 3, a large-scale liquefied natural gas project in Qatar to service the U.S. natural gas market. The companies said the agreement provides the framework for necessary project agreements and completion of key feasibility studies.
Qatargas 3 will produce 7.5 million tons of LNG per year, with average daily sales volumes projected at 1 billion cubic feet. Startup will be in the 2008-2009 timeframe. Gas will be from Qatar’s North field and the project will include “a new, first-of-class LNG train” at Ras Laffan Industrial City, and a fleet of state-of-the-art LNG carriers.
ConocoPhillips will purchase the LNG and be responsible for re-gasification and marketing in the United States.
LNG capacity in Qatar is 14 million tons per year. That will rise to 26 million tons per year by the end of 2005, with expansion plans to reach 40 million tons per year by 2010. Many other proposals in works ConocoPhillips described a number of other expansion and green field projects to the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority board July 7. Gary Endorf, who is with ConocoPhillips Alaska’s gas group, discussed 13 projects, including expansion and green field, which would put 68.9 million tons per year of LNG onto the world market by 2007. Of those 68.9 million tons, 9.5 million tons are committed now, he said, and 24.2 million tons are committed in 2010, which leaves 44.7 million tons per annum uncommitted in 2010.
Of those projects, ConocoPhillips is the majority partner in the Darwin LNG project, expected to start up in 2006 with 3 million tons a year of LNG.
Compared to the just-announced 7.5 million ton a year Qatargas 3 project, the 13 Endorf discussed range in size from 2 million ton per year expansion projects (Qatargas de-bottleneck) to 9 million ton per year green field projects (Sakhalin II).
ConocoPhillips is reportedly also partnering with ChevronTexaco for an LNG project offshore Venezuela which could be in production by 2009.
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