QatarEnergy has said the company has approved the award of the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for the North Field South (NFS) project, which comprises two LNG mega trains with a combined capacity of 16 million tons per annum (MTPA).

NFS, together with the North Field East (NFE) project, will increase Qatar’s LNG production capacity from the current 77 MTPA to 126 MTPA. QatarEnergy holds a 75% interest in the NFS project and has already signed partnership agreements with TotalEnergies, Shell, and ConocoPhillips for the remaining 25%.

The announcement was made during a ceremony held to mark the award of the EPC contract for the two LNG trains and associated facilities with a joint venture of Technip Energies and Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC). The contract was signed by His Excellency Mr. Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, the Minister of State for Energy Affairs, the President and CEO of QatarEnergy, Mr. Arnaud Pieton, the President of Technip Energies, and Mr. Oussama El Jerbi, CCC Managing Director – Qatar, in the attendance of Sheikh Khalid bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Chief Executive Officer of Qatargas, and senior executives from QatarEnergy, Qatargas, Technip Energies and CCC.

Commenting on the award of the EPC contract, His Excellency Minister Al-Kaabi said: “QatarEnergy is proud to announce yet another significant milestone in the world’s largest LNG project, reinforcing our commitment to meeting the global demand for Natural Gas.”

His Excellency added: “The NFS project is a unique development that minimizes its environmental footprint by design. It includes one of the largest CO2 capture and sequestration facilities and constitutes an important step towards achieving QatarEnergy’s target of more than 11 MTPA of CO2 capture and sequestration by 2035.” 

Minister Al-Kaabi thanked the management and working teams of QatarEnergy and Qatargas for their sincere and dedicated efforts in implementing the North Field expansion projects. He also extended his thanks and appreciation to the management and staff of Technip Energies and CCC for their contributions and voiced warm gratitude to His Highness Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, The Amir of the State of Qatar, for His invaluable guidance and unwavering support to QatarEnergy and Qatar’s energy sector.

The EPC contract’s value is around $10 billion, and its scope covers the construction of two mega LNG trains with a capacity of 8 MTPA each, with associated facilities for gas treatment, natural gas liquids recovery, as well as helium extraction and refining within Ras Laffan Industrial City.

In addition to the carbon capture and sequestration facilities, the environmental attributes of the NFS project also include importing a significant portion of the project’s electrical power requirements from the grid in the form of renewable solar power, which will be generated at QatarEnergy’s solar power facilities currently under construction in Ras Laffan Industrial City. It also includes a ‘jetty boil-off gas’ recovery system, which will help reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The project will also conserve five million cubic meters of water per year by recovering 75% of the plant’s tertiary water. Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) emissions will also be minimized through the application of enhanced Dry Low NOx technology.