Qatar looks to go even bigger on LNG
The Gulf state takes FID on four more trains but is already looking at going beyond its 126mn t/yr goal
The world’s largest LNG exporter, Qatar Petroleum (QP), took a long-anticipated FID on the first stage of its huge North Field East (NFE) expansion project on Monday. The firm signed an EPC contract with engineering heavyweights France’s Technip and Japan's Chiyoda committing it to four new 8mn t/yr mega-trains at its Ras Laffan liquefaction plant that will lift capacity from 77mn t/yr to 110mn t/yr. But, fresh from announcing that NFE would proceed, the firm opened up the possibility that its planned second phase, the North Field South (NFS) expansion, which will boost capacity by another 16mn t/yr to 126mn t/yr via two more mega-trains, is not the end of its ambitions. “As… appraisal activ
Also in this section
4 March 2026
The US president has repeatedly promised to lower gasoline prices, but this ambition conflicts with his parallel aim to increase drilling and could be upended by his war against Iran
4 March 2026
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed following US-Israel strikes and Iran’s retaliatory escalation, Fujairah has become the region’s critical pressure release valve—and is now under serious threat
3 March 2026
The killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei in US–Israeli strikes marks the most serious escalation in the region in decades and a bigger potential threat to the oil market than the start of the Russia-Ukraine crisis
2 March 2026
A potential blockade of the Strait of Hormuz following the escalating US-Iran conflict risks disrupting Qatari LNG exports that underpin global gas markets, exposing Asia and other markets to sharp price spikes, cargo shortages and renewed reliance on dirtier fuels
