Qatar Signs 27-Year Deal To Supply LNG To Italy

QatarEnergy has signed another 27-year agreement to ship LNG to Europe by agreeing to deliver cargoes for Eni in Italy beginning in 2026, after similar deals with Shell and TotalEnergies for supply to the Netherlands and France, respectively.  

Under the latest deal with Eni, QatarEnergy and the Italian major will deliver LNG to FSRU Italia, a floating storage and regasification unit located in the port of Piombino, in Italy’s Tuscany region, the Qatari state-owned energy firm said on Monday.  

The deliveries are expected to start in 2026 for a term of 27 years and will be sourced from the joint venture between QatarEnergy and Eni, which holds a 3.125% share in Qatar’s North Field East (NFE) expansion project.

“Together, we will continue to demonstrate commitment to the European markets in general, and to the Italian market in particular. Since 2009, Qatari LNG has been arriving at the Adriatic LNG terminal in the northern Adriatic to meet more than 10% of Italy’s natural gas requirements,” said Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi, Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs and president and CEO of QatarEnergy.  

Eni, for its part, said that the latest LNG supply contract would contribute to Italy’s security of supply through the diversification of its supply sources. Eni has already been importing 2.9 bcma from Qatar since 2007 under a long-term supply agreement.

The QatarEnergy-Eni agreement follows similar 27-year deals Qatar signed earlier this month – one with Shell to deliver LNG to the Gate LNG terminal in the port of Rotterdam, and another one with TotalEnergies, under which LNG will be delivered to the Fos Cavaou LNG terminal in southern France.

Eni, Shell, and TotalEnergies are all minority shareholders in the various LNG production trains of the North Field expansion project.

Earlier this month, Qatar broke ground for the world’s largest LNG project, the North Field expansion project, which will boost the tiny Gulf country’s export capacity by 48 million tons per annum (mmtpa) by 2027.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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