China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) has signed an equity participation agreement with QatarEnergy to take a 1.25 per cent share in Qatar's North Field East (NFE) expansion project, which is currently the largest Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in the world. (April 2023)

• QP has awarded a contract to Chiyoda Corporation of Japan to execute the FEED of the onshore facilities of the North Field Expansion. The scope of work will provide the basic design for the addition of 3 x 7.8 mtpa mega-trains of LNG production with associated pre-investment to add a fourth LNG train in the future. (March 2018)
• QP has awarded a ‘Detailed Design’ contract to McDermott International for offshore jackets that will be installed at the new North Field Expansion Project. The design of the jackets is an important step towards awarding the procurement, fabrication and installation (EPCI) contract by the end of this year, which will pave the way to start the drilling campaign in 2019. (May 2018)
• QP plans to add fourth liquefaction train to the LNG expansion project that will further increase company’s LNG production capacity to 110 MTPA i.e. 43 percent from its current production capacity of 77 MTPA. The fourth LNG mega-train will be included in the ongoing front-end engineering of the project. Final investment decision on the expansion is expected by the end of 2019. (September 2018)
• FEED works are still underway and completion date is extended to March 2019. (November 2018)
• Saipem, Larsen & Toubro and McDermott has submitted the commercial bids for the offshore jackets package. (January 2019)
• QP has awarded two contracts on its LNG expansion project at Ras Laffan. The contracts awarded are as follows: 1. An engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the fabrication and installation of offshore jackets has been awarded to McDermott. 2. A contract for early site works required to prepare for the four new 8 million tonnes a year (t/y) LNG megatrains in Ras Laffan Industrial City has been awarded to a joint venture between Consolidated Contractors Company (Greece/Lebanon) and Teyseer Trading and Contracting Company. The main invitations to tenders for the EPC of the onshore facilities will be issued before the end of this month. (April 2019)
• Qatargas has awarded the full suite of EPCI services for eight new offshore jackets to McDermott International for expansion of the North Field offshore facilities in Qatar. McDermott plans to use its project management and engineering teams in Doha, Qatar, with fabrication primarily taking place at McDermott's facilities in Batam, Indonesia. Vessels Derrick Barge 50 and Derrick Barge 27 from McDermott's global fleet are scheduled to undertake the installation and completions work. (April 2019)
• QP has invited consortiums to bid for the EPC contracts for the four LNG trains at its offshore NFE project. The consortiums invited are: Chiyoda Corporation of Japan / TechnipFMC of France, JGC Corporation of Japan / Hyundai Engineering & Construction of South Korea, Saipem of Italy / McDermott of USA / CTCI Corporation of Taiwan. The tender calls for the EPC of the four mega-LNG trains with gas and liquid treating facilities, ethane and liquefied petroleum gas production and fractionation, a helium plant, and utilities and infrastructure to support the processing units. (April 2019)
• QP has awarded contracts for a total of eight offshore Jackup Drilling Rigs for NFE project. Contracts for six of the eight rigs have been awarded to Gulf Drilling International (GDI), while the contracts for the remaining two rigs have been awarded to Northern Offshore Drilling Operations, operating out of the United States of America. The contracts are awarded for committed terms ranging from two to four years, with exercisable options to extend the drilling program durations if required. The scope includes the drilling and completion of 80 new wells from eight wellhead platform locations. The drilling rigs are planned to be mobilized and ready for drilling activities starting from January 2020. (May 2019)
• EPC tender has been issued for the Package 2 for the expansion of common lean liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage, and the loading and export facilities and the contract is expected to be awarded in February 2020. (May 2019)
• QP has awarded the FEED contract to McDermott Middle East Inc. for its NFE project’s offshore pipelines and topsides facilities. The contract scope includes engineering design for eight unmanned wellhead platform topsides, four 38” trunk lines and four 28” intra-field lines. The work is expected to take 12 months to complete. (May 2019)
• Firms pre-qualified for EPC contract for the expansion of Lean LNG Storage Facilities: Daewoo Engineering & Construction of South Korea, Hyundai Engineering & Construction of South Korea, IHI Corporation of Japan, McDermott International of US, and Saipem of Italy. The tender package calls for the EPC of three LNG storage tanks; compressors to recover tank boil off gas during storage and jetty boil off gas during LNG vessel loading; LNG rundown lines from the LNG trains to the LNG storage area; two additional LNG berths with an option for a third LNG berth; and loading and return lines from the LNG berths to the tanks. The contract is expected to be awarded by February, 2020. (August 2019)
• FEED works are complete and the EPC ITB for LNG Trains package has been issued with the bid submission due on 12 December, 2019. (August 2019)
• QP has issued ITB for the EPC packages of additional liquid products storage and loading facilities and mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) storage and distribution facilities in Ras Laffan Industrial City. The contract will be part of the NFE Project. It will include a new propane storage tank, vapour recovery compressors for propane and butane tank refrigeration, a plant condensate storage tank, a MEG storage tank and distribution system, a new liquid products export berth and liquid product lines from the main NFE plant location to the liquid products storage area. Due to the increased volume of associated liquid products the NFE project will generate from offshore production and onshore gas processing, QP expands its existing storage and loading facilities. (September 2019)
• Bids for the EPC contract for liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage and loading facilities (EPC-2) for NFE Project have been submitted. The bidders are: Hyundai E&C of South Korea, IHI Corporation of Japan / Mcdermott International of US, Saipem of Italy, and Samsung C&T of South Korea. The EPC-2 tender package calls for the EPC of three LNG storage tanks; compressors to recover tank boil off gas during storage and jetty boil off gas during LNG vessel loading; LNG rundown lines from the LNG trains to the LNG storage area; two additional LNG berths with an option for a third LNG berth; and loading and return lines from the LNG berths to the tanks. (October 2019)
• QP has shortlisted partners for NFE project. Total, Exxon Mobil, Shell, and Italy’s Eni have all offered QP stakes in prize assets abroad in a bid to secure a stake in the project. (October 2019)
• New rigs for the NFE project are under construction in China; will start arriving in 2020. More potential partners are also to be announced in 2020. (October 2019)
• The technical bid submission has taken place for EPC-1 package and JV of Chiyoda Corporation and TechnipFMC, JV of JGC Corporation and Hyundai E&C, JV of Saipem, McDermott and CTCI Corporation have submitted the bids. (November, 2019)
• McDermott has completed fabrication work for the first two jackets out of eight offshore jackets for Offshore project. (December 2019)
• The commercial bid submission date has been extended to 6 February, 2020 for EPC-2 package. (January 2020)
• For the RLTO and Offplot Facility Package (EPC-3), technical bids have been submitted. The bidders are: Petrofac, Black Cat Engineering and Construction, Qatar Engineering & Construction Company W.L.L. The commercial bid submission is on 4 March, 2020. (January 2020)
• The commercial bid submission date has been further extended and expected to be in July or August on EPC-1 package. The bid evaluation is underway on EPC-2 package with the contract expected to be awarded by the end of 2020. The construction works are in nearing completion on Early Site works package. (April 2020)
• QP has started the development of drilling campaign for the North Field East Project, or NFE (previously known as the North Field Expansion Project). The first of 80 NFE development wells was spudded on 29 March by the jack-up rig “GulfDrill Lovanda”, which is managed and operated by GulfDrill, a joint venture between the Qatar based drilling champion, Gulf Drilling International, and Seadrill Limited. QP had earlier awarded a number of contracts for jack-up drilling rigs to be utilized for the drilling of 80 development wells for the NFE. The installation of the first four Offshore Jackets in Qatari waters is underway and is expected to be completed by the end of this month. (April 2020)
• Air Products of US has been selected to provide its proprietary AP-X natural gas liquefaction process technology and equipment to Qatargas for the first phase of QP’s NFE project, in Ras Laffan. Each of the four new LNG process units, the largest LNG production trains in the world, will have a production capacity of 7.8 million tonnes per year. (August 2020)
• Solicitation of Interest (SOI) has been issued for EPC-4 package in early August 2020 and Samsung Engineering amongst the few other EPC's have submitted the SOI documents. (September 2020)
• The main contract tender has been issued for offshore package - pipelines and topside facilities. Saipem, McDermott, L&T, Sapura and Subsea7 are the pre-qualified shortlisted companies. FEED works are progressing. (September 2020)
• QP has received commercial bids for the EPC-1 Package. The bidding groups are: Chiyoda Corporation / Technip France S.A., JGC Corporation / Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co. Ltd., Saipem S.p.A / McDermott Middle East Inc. / CTCI Corporation. The project scope comprises four new LNG mega trains, which will expand Qatar’s LNG production from 77mn tonnes per annum (mta) to 110mta by 2025. Each of the trains will have a capacity to produce 8 mta of LNG. (October 2020)
• Qatargas has awarded a contract to Baker Hughes of US to provide multiple main refrigerant compressors (MRCs) for phase I of NFE Project, which will feature the latest compression technology to reduce 60,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) per train each year without any reduction in LNG production, representing roughly 5% decrease versus previous technologies. The compression trains will also be produced using the latest manufacturing techniques, minimising raw material and emission-intensive processes to reduce CO2 emissions during production by up to 10%. Each MRC train will consist of three frame 9E DLN ultra low NOx gas turbines and six centrifugal compressors across four LNG mega trains for a total scope of supply of 12 gas turbines to drive 24 centrifugal compressors. Packaging, manufacturing and testing of the gas turbine/compressor trains will take place at Baker Hughes’ facilities in Florence and Massa, Italy. (October 2020)
• The client has asked the contractors to re-submit the commercial bids which were due on 15 December, 2020, however, the date has been further extended to January 2021. (December 2020)
• The commercial bid have been submitted for offshore package - pipelines and topside facilities. The bidders are: McDermott, Saipem, Sapura, and Subsea7. (February 2021)
• Qatargas has awarded the $13bn onshore EPC contract (EPC-1) to a consortium of Chiyoda of Japan and TechnipFMC of France to build LNG trains as part of the first phase of the project. This award will cover the delivery of 4 mega trains, each with a capacity of 8 Mtpa of LNG, and associated utility facilities. It will include a large CO2 Carbon Capture and Sequestration facility, leading to more than 25% reduction of Green House Gas emissions when compared to similar LNG facilities. The new facilities will receive approximately 6 billion standard cubic feet per day of feed gas from the Eastern sector of Qatar’s North Field, which is the largest non-associated gas field in the world. The expansion project will produce approximately 33 Mtpa of additional LNG, increasing Qatar’s total production from 77 to 110 Mtpa. (March 2021)
• The EPC commercial bids have been submitted for RLTO storage and loading facility and Offplot Facility (EPC-3). The bidders are: Saipem, Maire Tecnimont and Tecnicas Reunidas. (March 2021)
• QP has awarded the EPC contract worth over $2bn to Samsung C&T of South Korea for the expansion of LNG storage and loading facilities (EPC-2) for North Field East (NFE) Project being developed as part of the North Field expansion project - phase I. The contract scope includes three LNG tanks and three LNG loading berths for NFE as well as options for two LNG tanks and one LNG berth for NFS project, and all associated pipes, lines and loading lines. (March 2021)
• QP has issued an 'Invitation to Tender' (ITT) for the chartering of LNG carriers for its future LNG shipping requirements for its ongoing expansion projects in the North Field. The ITT package, which was issued to a large group of LNG ship owners, aims at selecting world-class ship owners for the long-term time charter of LNG carriers to satisfy the future requirements of Qatar Petroleum and its subsidiaries. In addition to the North Field Expansion Project, the ITT package also covers the requirements for the LNG volumes that will be produced from the Golden Pass LNG export project in the United States. Furthermore, the ITT includes options to replace time charters for a number of Qatar's LNG carriers that will expire in the next few years. (March 2021)
• Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell, TotalEnergies and ConocoPhillips, which are part of Qatar's existing LNG production were joined by new entrants Chevron and Italy's Eni in bidding process to partner in North Field expansion. The results of the tender process are not expected to be announced before September. (May 2021)
• Construction works on Lean LNG Storage and Loading Expansion (EPC-2) are expected to commence this month. MIC Construct has been appointed as the sub-contractor for the delivery of berths. (June 2021)
• QP has raised $12.5bn by offering a multi-tranche bond to fund the development of the North Field expansion projects. The proceeds will also be used to boost the North Field’s gas field’s production capacity from 77 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) to 110Mtpa by 2027. The largest US dollar fixed-rate oil and gas bond received orders of more than $40bn from global insurers, asset managers, pension funds and bank treasuries. (July 2021)
• A Civil Subcontract worth $2.3bn has been awarded to Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) of Athens, Greece for the first phase of the NFE project. (July 2021)
• QP has awarded an EPC contract to Te´cnicas Reunidas for the expansion of onshore facilities for the NFE project. The initial amount of the contract has been estimated to be more than $500 million. However, several additional options would substantially increase the value. The EPC contract, to be executed over 41 months, is for the completion of an “EPC- 3 package” required for the expansion of liquid products storage and loading that are by-products of the LNG liquefaction process. It includes the construction of liquid products rundown lines, lean gas pipeline for gas delivery into Qatar Petroleum’s domestic gas grid, the expansion of the Ras Laffan Terminal Operations (RLTO) product storage and loading facilities, Monoethylene glycol (MEG) storage and transfer facilities expansion, and CO2 sequestration pipeline and associated facilities at CO2 injection wellheads. (September 2021)
• Qatargas started building four new liquefied natural gas mega-trains that will lift its production capacity to 110 million tons/year from 77 mt/year, the company said. (October 2021)
• Bids have been submitted for the offshore package of the NFE project. The bidders who have submitted bids for the pipelines and topsides facilities package and five wellhead platforms include: Hyundai Heavy Industries, McDermott, Saipem, Sapura, Subsea7, Technip Energies. (October 2021)
• Qatargas has invited bids for the $1bn Sulphur Storage and Export facilities onshore package (EPC-4) of the North Field East (NFE) project. Amongst others, Hyundai E&C has been invited for the tender. The package scope of work includes the construction of a sulphur storage tank with a capacity of 10,000 tonnes, laying of connecting pipelines, installation of a control system and valves, mechanical and instrumentation works, and construction of associated facilities. (October 2021)
• QatarEnergy has awarded a contract to Tenaris of USA to supply a complete package of seamless line pipes and bends for the North Field East (NFE) Project. Under the contract, Tenaris will manufacture and supply QatarEnergy with 197,000 tons of welded, high-end sour service pipe, 11,800 tons of seamless pipe and 206 bends. The production of welded tubes will take place at Tenaris’s Confab mill in Brazil, while the seamless tubes will be manufactured at the Dalmine and Siderca mills, located in Italy and Argentina, respectively. (December 2021)
• Major EPCI contract for the offshore scope of the North Field Expansion Project has been awarded to McDermott Middle East Inc. The contract scope includes 8 normally unmanned wellhead platforms topsides, in addition to various connecting pipelines and the shore approaches for the NFE pipelines, beach valve stations and buildings. (January 2022)
• Qatargas has invited bids for the $1bn Sulphur Storage and Export Facilities package (EPC-4) of the NFE project. Bids are due to be submitted by the end of this month. (February 2022)
• Qatargas has received bids for the $1bn Sulphur Storage and Export Facilities package (EPC-4) of NFE project at Ras Laffan Industrial City (RLIC). The bidders are: Hyundai Engineering & Construction of South Korea, Saipem of Italy, Tecnicas Reunidas of Spain. The package scope of work includes the construction of a sulphur storage tank with a capacity of 10,000 tonnes, laying of connecting pipelines, installation of a control system and valves, mechanical and instrumentation works, and construction of associated facilities. (March 2022)
• The two sub-contracts for the onshore package 1 of the NFE Expansion project has been awarded to Tekfen Construction of Turkey. The sub-contracts have been awarded by the consortium of Chiyoda of Japan and TechnipEnergies of France, who is executing the EPC works on the package. The scope of works on the first sub-contract involves steel fabrication and has an estimated value of $368mn. The second sub-contract involves the provision of general services for the second offsites facilities and is estimated to be $60mn. (April 2022)
• A sub-contract for the onshore package 1 of the NFE LNG project has been awarded to Inco Group of UAE. An estimated $40mn sub-contract has been awarded by the consortium of Chiyoda of Japan and TechnipEnergies of France, who is executing the EPC works on the package. The scope of works involves the building of storage tanks. (April 2022)
• Qatargas has awarded the EPC contract worth $600 million to the joint venture formed by Tecnicas Reunidas of Spain (70%) and Wison Engineering Ltd. of China (30%) for the Sulphur Storage and Export Facilities package (EPC-4) of the NFE project. The package scope of work includes the construction of a sulphur storage tank with a capacity of 10,000 tonnes, laying of connecting pipelines, installation of a control system and valves, mechanical and instrumentation works, and construction of associated facilities. The contract also includes an option for an expansion of the facilities to support the sulphur production of two new natural gas trains, as well as the necessary infrastructure to support additional future LNG trains. (May 2022)
• Qatargas has awarded a subcontract to SIAD Macchine Impianti (SIAD MI) for supply and installation of 4 Air Separation Units (ASUs) of the GNT 4750 type, and 2 auxiliary storages, and vaporization systems, for NFE Expansion Project. The complete delivery of the ASUs and auxiliary systems is scheduled by September 2023. (June 2022)
• Qatar is partnering with international companies in the first phase of the NFE project. Under the terms of the agreement, QatarEnergy and ExxonMobil will become partners in a new joint venture company (JV), in which QatarEnergy will hold a 75% interest with ExxonMobil holding the remaining 25% interest. The JV will own 25% of the entire North Field East project, including four LNG trains with a combined nameplate capacity of 32 million tons per year. The arrangement implies a 6.25% stake for Exxon in the North Field East expansion, QatarEnergy CEO Saad al-Kaabi said. That would make Exxon’s share of the project equal to TotalEnergies while Eni and ConocoPhillips have around 3.12% each. (June 2022)
• Qatargas has awarded a sub-contract to Air Products of US to supply four end flash coil wound heat exchangers (CWHE) for the North Field East (NFE) LNG megaproject in Ras Laffan. In 2020, Air Products was contracted to provide its proprietary AP-X natural gas liquefaction process technology and equipment for the NFE project. Now, one of the end flash CWHE’s will be used with each of the four AP-X LNG process trains already being built by Air Products for Chiyoda Corporation and Technip Energies, who are constructing the LNG process trains for QatarEnergy. Air Products will build the end flash CWHEs at its Port Manatee, Florida manufacturing facility. The start-up of the first AP-X LNG train is planned for the end of 2025. (September 2022)
• Técnicas Reunidas, the main contractor of the NFE project under the EPC-3 package, has awarded a sub-contract worth over $100 million to ViTO Construction for the construction of storage tanks in a duration of 36 months. ViTO will provide with the creation of 8 tanks, including 3 double-walled LPG tanks, 2 MEG (mono-ethylene glycol) tanks, 2 naphtha tanks and 1 condensate tank, thereby creating a total storage capacity of 600 thousand m³ by carrying out the contract on an engineering, purchasing and construction basis. (November 2022)
• Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL; Japan), through a subsidiary, has signed a long-term charter contract for three newbuilding liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers with QatarEnergy. The vessels will be built at Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding (Group) Co., Ltd. in China, and are scheduled for delivery in 2027. MOL signed a long-term charter contract with QatarEnergy in April 2022 for four newbuilding LNG carriers. (November 2022)
• China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) has signed a 27-year sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with QatarEnergy, where 4 million tpy of LNG will be supplied to China from the North Field East Expansion project. (November 2022)
• The construction works are ongoing on the LNG Processing Trains package. (April 2023)