Qatar signs a contract with a French company to increase gas production to 126 million tons annually

Qatar’s Energy Minister, Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, announced that his country has signed an agreement with the French company “Total Energies” with the aim of expanding the North Field, in order to raise gas production capacity to 126 million tons annually.
Cairo – Sputnik. “The North Field Expansion Project will increase Qatar’s production capacity of liquefied natural gas to 126 million tons annually,” Al-Kaabi said, during a press conference today, Sunday, with CEO of “Total” Patrick Pouyanne.
Al-Jazeera quoted Al-Kaabi as saying that production from the North Field Natural Gas Expansion Project will start in 2026.
Against the background of the ongoing crisis between Russia and Ukraine, the network quoted Minister Al-Kaabi as saying that the expansion process “has a 25-year plan and is not related to the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, which may last months and perhaps years.”
He pointed out that “despite the increasing demand for natural gas, Doha considers that the vision for the project should be more comprehensive.”

For his part, Pouyanneh said, “Europe’s acceleration towards energy sources makes the expansion of the North Gas Field in Qatar of great importance at the present time.”
According to the Qatari newspaper, Al-Sharq, “the agreement stipulates that Total Energy will acquire a 25% interest in a joint company with Qatar Energy, which will retain 75% of the capital.”
The joint venture company will own 25% of the Northeast Field Expansion Project and the construction of four mega trains with a total capacity of 22 million tons annually, at a total cost of $28.8 billion.
Europe, which depends on Russian gas by about 40%, is trying to diversify its energy sources, search for alternatives, and even turn to clean energy, in response to the Russian special military operation in Ukraine.

It is reported that on March 23, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the transfer of payments for natural gas supplies to the European Union and other countries that have imposed restrictive measures against Russia, to the ruble, in order to abandon the use of dollars and euros in accounts.
Then the president signed a decree to this effect, stating that if “unfriendly” countries do not pay in rubles as of April 1, Russia will consider this a failure to fulfill their gas contract obligations.
This comes as the Russian armed forces have continued, since February 24, to carry out a special military operation to protect the Donbass region, southeast of Ukraine.