LNG

QatarEnergy, the leading liquefied natural gas supplier, signed a long-term supply agreement with a Singapore subsidiary of Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co for one of its other main products from natural gas production in the Arabian Gulf that is now expanding with the North Field LNG projects.

Oct 11 (LNGJ) - QatarEnergy and TotalEnergies signed two long-term LNG sale and purchase agreements for the supply of up to 3.5 million tonnes per annum of LNG from Qatar to France. The volumes will be supplied on a delivered basis to the Fos Cavaou receiving terminal located east of Marseilles in the south of France. Deliveries are expected to start in 2026 for a term of 27 years.

   The LNG volumes will be sourced from the two joint ventures between QatarEnergy and TotalEnergies that hold stakes in Qatar’s North Field East (NFE) and North Field South (NFS) expansions. The supply deals were signed by Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the President and CEO of QatarEnergy and his TotalEnergies counterpart Patrick Pouyanné.

TotalEnergies, the French major and a leading global LNG project developer and investor, has awarded engineering, procurement and construction contracts to five companies for the $11 billion Amiral complex project, a world-scale petrochemicals facility expansion at the Satorp refinery in Saudi Arabia as part of a joint venture with Saudi Aramco.

The facility will house the largest mixed-load steam cracker in the Gulf with capacity to produce 1.65 million tons of ethylene and other industrial gases per annum.

Aramco and TotalEnergies have teamed up for this project as the French energy developer also prepares multi-billion dollar investments in LNG joint ventures in the Gulf state of Qatar as well as in Mozambique and the US.

Gulf presence

QatarEnergy selected TotalEnergies as a key international partner in both the North Field South (NFS) liquefaction venture and the North Field East (NFE) project that will take Qatar’s production to 126 million tonnes per annum of LNG.

In addition, the French major is also the operator of the large-scale onshore LNG project in Mozambique that is also moving forward and was recently chosen to partner NextDecade Corp. of the US for the Rio Grande LNG export venture in Texas.

For the Saudi refinery project, the EPC contracts signing ceremony took place in Dhahran in Saudi Arabia attended by Aramco President and Chief Executive Amin H. Nasser and his TotalEnergies counterpart Patrick Pouyanné.

“The award of EPC contracts for the main process units and associated utilities marks the start of construction work on this joint project, following the final investment decision in December 2022,” said TotalEnergies.

Aramco ‘s Nasser said the company was taking a major step forward in further strengthening the partnership between TotalEnergies and Aramco.

“As part of Aramco’s growth strategy, the project is anticipated to contribute to value-addition opportunities in the Kingdom’s downstream ecosystem, and we thank the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Investment for their tremendous support via the Shareek program to make this multi-billion-dollar project a reality,” Nasser stated.

The Kingdom's Shareek program aims to unlock 5 trillion Saudi riyals (US$1.35 trillion) of private-sector investments by 2030, raising private-sector GDP contributions to 65 percent and to increase non-oil exports over time from 16 percent to 50 percent

Integrated

The Saudi Amiral project will be integrated with the existing Satorp refinery in Jubail and the new petrochemical complex is expected to attract more than $4 billion in additional investment in a variety of industrial sectors and create thousands of jobs.

“This expansion reinforces the exemplary relationship that our two companies have enjoyed for several decades,” Pouyanné said.

The EPC contracts list includes South Korea’s Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. to work on a mixed feed cracker and utilities project for related industrial gases and flaring and interconnecting systems that support the main packages.

The Rome, Italy-based company Maire Tecnimont won the contract for two polyethylene units using Advanced Dual Loop technology and the derivative units.

Sinopec Engineering Group Saudi Co. was put in charge of the tank farm and Satorp integration.

Among regional companies, Gulf Consolidated Contractors Co. will work on the transfer pipelines, Mohammed Ali Al-Suwailem Trading & Contracting will build industrial support facilities and Mofarreh Marzouq Al Harbi & Partners is in charge of site preparations.

Baker Hughes, the US energy technology company and LNG equipment supplier, has been awarded a major contract in the Côte d'Ivoire in West Africa where the Baleine project for offshore oil and associated gas is currently moving forward to maintain the country's status as an African energy hub.

Baker Hughes was chosen for the contract by Italian oil and gas company Eni and the African nation's state energy company, Société Nationale d'Opérations Pétrolières de la Côte d'Ivoire (Petroci).

Eni and Petroci are initiating Africa’s first Scope 1 and 2 carbon-dioxide emissions reduction plan as part of the Baleine oil and gas field Phase 2 development.

The Baleine field, taking its name from the French word for “whale”, was discovered in 2021 as the largest commercial discovery in the country in the last 20 years and set to contribute substantially to boosting energy production in Côte d'Ivoire.

The Côte d'Ivoire’s mainly oil production has varied significantly over the past two decades as existing fields have become depleted, closed for maintenance or development works and as new discoveries have been made but have needed further investment.

Deep water trees

“This award, which includes eight deep water trees, three Aptara™ manifolds, the relevant subsea production control system, and flexible risers and jumpers, strengthens Baker Hughes’ presence in West Africa and unlocks considerable growth potential in the country,” explained the Houston, Texas-based company.

“Baker Hughes will deliver a configured-to-order product portfolio across subsea production and flexible pipe systems, designed for optimum cost effectiveness, installation and life-of-field value,” added the company.

Baker Hughes said that these deepwater trees and manifolds, supplemented with subsea production controls and flexible pipe systems, are aimed at providing efficiency and cost-effectiveness under demanding conditions.

“This collaboration between Baker Hughes and Eni is Africa’s first development project with clear Scope 1 and 2 carbon reduction goals and will deliver innovative technology that will enhance the energy security in Ivory Coast,” said Maria Claudia Borras, executive vice president for Oilfield Services & Equipment at Baker Hughes.

“Ensuring that energy is locally available is an increasingly profound challenge, and we applaud the efforts of Eni and companies like it to shape an abundant energy future for Africa. We are proud of the confidence placed in us to accelerate the execution of this important project,” Borras added.

LNG orders

Baker Hughes is additionally a key player in the LNG equipment supply sector and its most recent contract award was in April 2023 to supply two main refrigerant compressors (MRCs) for the North Field South (NFS) LNG expansion project in Qatar.

The Ivorian Baleine project is offshore block CI-101 and is forecast to hold up to 2.0 billion barrels of oil in place and 2.4 trillion cubic feet of associated gas located at water depth of 1,200 metres.

In addition to the CI-101 block, Eni owns stakes in four other blocks in the Ivorian deepwater.

They are CI-205, CI-501, CI-504 and CI-802, all with the same partner Petroci.

The Côte d'Ivoire’s regional neighbours to the north, Senegal and Mauritania, are currently developing floating LNG projects, while among its southern neighbours, Nigeria is an established world-scale LNG and oil exporting nation and Cameroon has a small FLNG project in operation.

US major ConocoPhillips and QatarEnergy will combine to provide 2 million tonnes per annum of LNG to Germany’s new onshore import terminal under development at Brunsbüttel on the Elbe River.

QatarEnergy selected ConocoPhillips as its third and final international partner in the North Field South (NFS) expansion project comprising two LNG mega-Trains with a combined capacity of 16 million tonnes per annum and said free markets in energy were the best ways forward.