Qatar Delays Picking Partners for LNG Expansion: Press

Qatar has delayed selecting Western partners for the next stage of North Field, the world's largest source of LNG, sources told Reuters on February 17.

The Gulf state had intended to announce partners in the first quarter of 2020. But late last year it opted to expand North Field's output by 60% to 126mn mt/yr by 2027, after previously planning a 40% increase.

"I think Qatar has decided to firm up the capex of the project before they go to international oil companies," one source told Reuters. "I think the decision should be ready by the end of 2020."

Other sources confirmed that the decision had been pushed back until at least mid-2020 amid a lower gas price outlook.

As NGW reported, CEO of North Field's operator Qatar Petroleum Saad Sherida al-Kaabi told the Oil & Money conference in October, when prices were already low, that a "select few" investment partners had been shortlisted for the expansion, but that the state-owned company might decide to proceed with the project on its own. Qatar earns revenues from the sale of condensates, offsetting the gas liquefaction costs.