Total takes share of Qatar project

Allen Baker

Total S.A. has signed an agreement to take an equity interest in the second train at the Qatargas 2 project, the company said Feb. 28. As part of the deal, Total will buy up to 5.2 million tons of LNG annually from the project for 25 years, shipping the fuel to France, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The French giant put in a billion dollars for the stake, the AFP news agency quoted Total’s chairman, Thierry Desmarest, as saying.

Total will hold a 16.7 percent share of the second train at Qatargas 2, formerly a joint venture involving ExxonMobil at 30 percent and Qatar Petroleum at 70 percent. Just how the percentages will shake out wasn’t disclosed. Each of the two trains at the giant project can produce 7.8 million tons of liquefied natural gas each year.

The second train is currently set to start production at the end of 2008. Total didn’t say when its shipments would start. Total has been active in Qatar for 70 years and has major investments in upstream assets in the Mideast nation.